The Marauders and the Forbidden Hollow (Year 2)
by wallyscag
Summary: Being under the Ministry of Magic's close watch as the prime suspect of last term's tragedy, Remus Lupin returns for his second year at Hogwarts with whispers of a 'Forbidden Hollow' that seems to be the only key to all of his unanswered questions left by his professor. Now that his future isn't the only one at stake, keeping his secret will be more important now more than ever.
1. Trial in Error

**Author's Notes:**

Whale, whale, whale... I'm back.

That's right, after two painstakingly long weeks, Book two is already underway. England was indeed inspiring, and boy do I have some material for you guys!

If you're joining in now, welcome to Book/Year 2, and thank you so much for your interest! It may not make much sense later on if you haven't read the first part yet, but that's okay. I started with Chamber of Secrets and I turned out all right I think.

If you're continuing on this train, welcome back! And thank you so much for your continued support. The fact that you didn't drop off after the last one concluded means more than words can say. I don't think I'll ever get used to having such lovely people be such a huge encouragement.

That being said, I do encourage you to read the previous if you haven't already. It'll give you an idea for where the tone is going for this whole shindig, and you'll get the feel for me as well!

With that, I _heavily_ encourage you to write a review for me telling me your thoughts. If you love it, absolutely hate it, think it's okay, whatever! The only thing I ask is that it's constructive. I really ant to improve on my weak areas, and I need you guys to help me along.

The Tumblog is still up and running if you want to follow it, the URL is in my profile! There's mainly just chapters and goodies now, but it's a better place to get updates and announcements from me should I need to make any in between posts.

That's it for now... So with this new installment, the same old disclaimers apply... I in no way own any of the lovely characters lovingly referenced that already exist in J.K. Rowling's world.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 **Trial in Error**

Remus kicked his feet over the bed as he awoke in the middle of the night, and prodded one of the floorboards with his big toe to listen for the creak. The book he'd been keeping safe for professor Zilar had been humming in the middle of the night again, filling his sleep with nightmares of the night three weeks prior when he died. It all seemed so much farther away now. He hopped off the bed and sat crisscrossed on his floor, lifting the loose board until he saw the old leather binding and silver lettering: _Imperium Vitae Periculosae._

The humming turned into loud, incoherent whispers when his fingers graced the leather, which only grew louder as he pulled out the text and set it on his lap. Remus could feel his heart thumping wildly in his chest as he opened to the same horrible image every single time. The Werewolf…

The same creature within himself.

He tilted his head as head watched the enchanted sketch change from man to beast on the page, when he flipped it to see an identical image. He was frozen in confusion. Usually the book only ever has one monster at a time, what was even more harrowing was what was there instead of the usual sketch of an unnamed man. It was him. Staring blankly into Remus eyes, the page transformed until his sketch became beast. The werewolf thrashed wildly and tore through the pages to make one fell swipe at his face— Making him wake up with a start to the sunrise that next morning.

Remus sat up; not even taking the time to breathe just to make sure the humming was gone. When he was sure the only noise was his mother scraping dishes in the kitchen. He sighed in relief and threw on one of his dad's old shirts that he wore as pyjamas and headed down to the kitchen to greet his mother, making sure to take extra caution as to not disturb the creaky floorboard by his bed.

xxx

Just as Remus has fixed himself a bowl, the fluttering of wings and sudden thud on the kitchen windowsill gave Hope Lupin such a jump that she dropped the dish she was scrubbing into the bubbly water, splashing it everywhere. Remus looked up from his bowl of porridge from the kitchen table and giggled at the sight, seeing his owl Ezra rap affectionately at the window for her to grab the letters tied to one of his legs.

"Oh, right… mail." She mumbled under her breath, drying her hands on her blouse before working at the knot. "Almost a year and still not used to it. I kind of miss the post man." She kept a whimsical tone in her voice while reaching up to stroke the owl under his beak and plucked a treat from a container hanging on the inside of the kitchen window. Ezra hooted delightedly and scooped up what looked like a cubed piece of bacon before fluttering away, disappearing just as quickly as he came. Hope turned and walked over to Remus while examining one envelope front to back, her ginger hair framed and glowing in the morning sunlight filtering through the windows.

"What's 'at?" Remus asked with his mouth still slightly full from his most recent spoonful, making her flick her eyes up at him.

"One for you from James again, and the other… for your father. Huh, that's odd. I thought I'd be the one getting all of the letters addressed to me and delivered by owl." A small smile pulled at her lips as she placed it on the countertop where his father would see it when he popped in from work. "If it was really important I'm sure he'd have had it delivered at work… unless you think it has been already read… do you…?"

Remus shrugged. The truth was that he'd been as new at magic as his mother was. It was only a year ago that both of them got pulled into the wizarding world from most of what they considered normal. For all he knew, there would be hundreds of letters just waiting for him at every corner waiting to be opened. Then again of course, it could have just been something a little less urgent. Whatever the case, the thought amused him. He took another spoonful with one hand and fixed his hair with the other. Despite being a little longer than the last time she saw him when he left for Hogwarts last September, she still made it a point to fix his locks that she could plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Still going to help me with the gardening today?" She asked, making Remus groan. "Oh it's not that bad. Besides, you're not going to spend a morning like this lazing around all day in your pyjamas."

"All right… I'll finish breakfast and get dressed." He replied in a tired voice while reaching for James' letter. She smiled and fixed his hair again before walking off, giving him the privacy and time to read what James had sent him.

 _Dear Remus,_

 _You know these letters don't have to be composed like essays right? And you're making me look bad because now my mother is starting to think I didn't get all of those good grades on my own. I still can't believe you almost got near perfect marks. I wonder if you beat out Evans._

Remus rolled his eyes. Even in writing he could never escape James' moaning over Lily Evans, his muggleborn friend from school. He'd been keeping in touch with her over the passed few weeks and did in fact learn that she'd gotten high marks like him as well, but he'd sooner tell James he was a werewolf than mention anything to do with Lily if he could help it.

 _Sirius and Peter are doing all right too. Apparently his little brother is supposed to be starting school with us this year so that should be interesting. Could you imagine another one of them? Incredible. Anyway, I'm keeping this one short since I know you'll do enough writing for both of us._

 _James_

He smiled when he reached the end. Remus had only gotten a letter or two from his friends in three weeks he'd been out of school, but he was grateful that he'd gotten any at all. Unfortunately he hadn't heard from Sirius like James had, but he understood. The family he comes from doesn't like families like Remus' who don't have pure wizarding parentage, and are especially disgusted towards families like Lily's who don't have any magical parents at all. The fact that he'd only be sending letters to James and Peter was something he'd accepted before the train home. It was less upsetting that way. Remus tossed the folded sheet or parchment to the side, making a mental note to write James back later after he finished playing around in the dirt with his mother.

xxx

It was true that garden work wasn't as horrible as he made it out in his head. He actually enjoyed the quality time they spent together doing it as well as the neighbors faces watching them go on planting and pruning without magic as she was the only muggle or non magical person in the village they lived at now, plus it was against the rules for Remus to use magic until he came of age when he turned seventeen. He didn't mind not having to use it since it gave him and his mother common ground. It also made him feel better that she didn't need to feel left out. His only concern was that he'd forget how to cast the spells he'd learned at school.

"Ouch—!" cried as she pulled her arms from the rose bush she'd been trimming, revealing long red scratches lined with pinpricks of blood. Remus perked up immediately and she giggled. "It's nothing sweetheart. To be honest I'm surprised I didn't get these a little sooner. See?" She pointed at her arm and as if in layers and after moving the hair from his face to get a better look, he could see the slightly lighter and thinner scar lines shimmer in the sunlight from her sweating skin. He'd never really paid attention to them before but now that he was aware, they were impossible to miss. "I'll just make sure to get your father getting me all pretty again when he gets home. Once you can start using your magic I think I'll be doing much more gardening."

"I would have cut them for you if—"

"I know you would." She interrupted. "Call it the protective mother in me, but I don't want you getting any of these nasty pricks if I can help it. Besides, how else am I going to keep track of how long I've been keeping a rose garden for? They're like… little tally marks, aren't they?" Her attempt to make him feel better only slightly worked. "I'm going to go wash and dress it, keep planting while I'm gone. And no cheating, Remus." She stood to her feet and scurried off, leaving him alone to dig around in the soil, feeling oddly guilty.

xxx

Their day landscaping came to a satisfying close when it began to get dark. After cleaning up the pair of them finally managed to plop down on the sofa to rest. Remus closed his eyes and started to doze when there was a sound like a firecracker pop. In an instant, Lyall Lupin appeared in the kitchen, placing his briefcase on the counter.

"'Ello, 'ello." He said while yawning. Hope carefully stood to her feet as to not disturb her son to greet him, leaving Remus stirring slightly on the sofa. "Ooh, what's this— oh for f—"

"Lyall!" she cut him off in a hushing tone, which ironically enough, was what woke Remus. Instead of sitting up, he stretched his arms forward. His parents continued on without realizing he was awake, but still kept their tones low.

"How was work?"

"Got about ten of these." He said, holding up the envelope and Frisbee tossing it into the bin. "I think some intern cast the spell wrong. Didn't get the memo that I did _in fact_ read the letter the first time."

"What's it about, then?"

"Ah well, it's actually some good news," Remus was concentrating now so that he could hear their soft tones a little better. "We've been given permission by Professor Dumbledore to use the Shrieking Shack for the summer."

"That's excellent!" Hope replied, making Remus' stomach do a flip as well. He'd hoped that while he was home for the summer months that the headmaster wouldn't mind using the old shack. Despite its appearance, it proved to be incredibly durable for his full moon transformations. If he was honest, the relief of not having to resort back to being locked in a room guarded by his dad was a large part of the elated sensation he felt.

"There was something else." Remus turned his head at this. "The er… well, there's been a summons issued for a hearing." The flips his stomach had been doing only moments before flopped. "It'll be in a month or so… Since the next one is only a few days away, they wanted to wait until after a full moon with enough notice, just in case."

"In case of what?" She replied loudly before pausing for a few seconds to bring down her voice when she spoke again. "Is this about what happened to that—"

"It's not a big deal. I think it's mainly a formality." There was another break of silence, only cut by a bit of shuffling around and what sounded to Remus like soft pats. They'd embraced. "I _know_ you're worried love, but he'll be fine. There's too much evidence backing him up. It just has to look like they're taking action. In the end it'll only help, trust me." There was another long pause followed by her sigh.

"…Alright. I don't suppose I can come with?"

"And leave your rose garden unattended to? I wouldn't dream of pulling you away from that. It'll be fine. We'll pop back in as soon as it's over to be in time for lunch. You won't even notice we're gone. Speaking of which," He turned her wrists over on his hands. "What have I told you about wearing sleeves? You're gonna cut yourself to ribbons, you are."

x-x-x

Remus looked down and played with one of his house ties that his mother knotted for him as they waited for his father in the sitting room. After she made some final touches to the part in his hair. He caught his reflection in the glass of a picture next to him and almost jumped at the difference. He should have known that by the time his mother had finished getting her hands on him that he'd look like a completely different person. His hair had been perfectly combed away from his face, which looked much cleaner and smoother than normal. His shirt and slacks had been pressed and re-pressed a dozen times over so there wasn't a crease to be found. He looked almost flawless. If not for his scars, he could pass for a charming posh boy.

Lyall walked into the room to the fireplace snapped his attention back forward, and he stood up to join him. Remus could see he was dressed up as if going to work with a cleaner shave, but his expression was much more serious than his usual whimsical smile. In his hands was an unmarked envelope that he hadn't seen before. He opened his mouth to ask what it was for, but with the focused look on his face, Remus decided against it. He figured if he was going to be bringing it to the Hearing, he would find out soon enough.

"Good luck, both of you." Said his mother as she gave them both a kiss on the cheek, unable to resist fixing Remus' hair one more time as his father grabbed a handful of Floo powder from a hanging satchel and took a step into the empty fireplace.

"MINISTRY OF MAGIC, LEVEL TWO!" Lyall said in a loud and clear voice as he threw the powder down to be engulfed in a bouquet of green flame, disappearing only moments after. The flames ran on for about thirty more seconds before Remus followed suit and stood in the ashes left behind by his father after the flames died down, grabbing a handful of powder for himself. He'd travelled a little more by Floo for practice since he'd been home, so he was used to the process and sensation, but knowing what he was getting into now had his nerves shaking his hands. He could hear his heart start pounding in his ears.

"MINISTRY OF MAGIC, LEVEL TWO!" He repeated, tossing down the powder and disappearing after spinning behind his own veil of green flames faster and faster until he landed on his hands and knees on a smooth black marble floor, only illuminated by circular lanterns hanging two stories above him. Looking around, he could tell that from the lack of windows or natural light, and the cavernous look to the hallway that they must have been underground. He took his fathers outstretched hand to help him up, and with a wave of his wand, cleaned him from all of the soot until he was as pristine as before he stepped into the Floo. Lyall slipped his wand back into his robes and nodded his head to lead Remus down a long hallway, stopping him as they approached a towering set of double doors before speaking.

"I'll be in with you. Just answer anything you're asked quickly and honestly, and I'll do the rest of the talking, clear?"

"Yes sir." Remus replied, the nerves finally setting in and making his voice shake.

"Good boy." He caught his father glimpsing at him and giving a soft smile as he lightly messed the back of his hair as to not mess up the incredible work his mother had gone through.

The large double doors opened on their own, the creaking echoing through the dungeon-like chamber. As the pair of them stepped in, Remus couldn't help but look around in awe at the room. Everything was impressive from the symmetry, to the decorative torches lining the walls. He and his father stopped in the middle of the room where a single chair stood, which now that his eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, he could see a slew of witches and wizards in plum coloured clothing all seated. The sight was intimidating. Lyall gestured for him to have a seat and he did, making sure to mind his posture and sit up straight as he locked eyes with the wizard most clearly illuminated. The man was tall and dark-skinned, his colour turning a red hue in the torchlight.

"Good morning." He said, his gruff voice echoing through the chamber as the doors did. "We are present for the disciplinary hearing into offenses committed against The Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures by one Remus John Lupin on the grounds of the mutilation and murder while assuming the form of a werewolf, of one Ellis Zilar on the evening of May the twenty-eighth." There was a light murmur that broke out in his break of words as he stacked papers in front of him. Remus could feel his father's grip on the chair tighten and was glad he decided against resting his hands on his shoulders.

"Interrogators will be Ramses Basalt, standing Chief Warlock for the Wizengamot, myself, Angora Chantilly, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Donax Winsor, Chief Unspeakable of the Department of Mysteries." Said the woman to his right. Not a fraction of a second after he heard the name, Remus whipped his head up to look around the plum coloured wizards to see if he could place where Mr. Winsor had been. Donax Winsor had been directly correlated to Abraxas Malfoy, a man who if Remus didn't know any better, was completely set on ensuring his failure in integrating peacefully at school. Knowing Winsor was watching him now didn't do anything to help is already fraying nerves. Sure enough, he sat to Basalt's left, his icy catlike eyes peering down at him from the stands of the council. Remus looked down quickly after accidentally catching his gaze. "Is the accused present?"

"Y-yes ma'am." He replied looking directly at Chantilly. Despite looking older from the white-blonde hair tucked neatly underneath her hat, she had no hard lines in her face or rasp in her voice. She was much easier to focus on, even though she still commanded respect in her presence. Even though she had an authoritative tone, it was still oddly soothing. He thought if anyone would be on his side it would be her… but he'd been wrong before.

"And with him as his defense?"

"Lyall Lupin, his father." His dad did much better to keep his voice firm and confident.

"And you are a part of the Regulation department aforementioned is that correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." Ramses looked to his right to a young witch and they both shared a nod as she readied a quill to write. "Now, young Mr. Lupin how do you plead to these accusations?" The entire mob of witches and wizards looking at him now seemed to collectively lean forward to hear what he had to say for himself.

"I haven't hurt anyone, sir." Remus replied, trying to feign the same confident and sure tone of his father. Predictably, the court did not seem impressed.

"Hm." The scratches of the court scribe's quill filled the silence until Basalt cleared his throat and stacked the papers in his hands.

"Is it true that upon your transformations in the past, you've had no recollection of your altered state of being until you were next conscious as a human?"

"Yes, but—"

"Did you know that it was against the regulation agreed upon by the Headmaster and the Ministry to enter the Forbidden Forest unless given explicit directions from professor Dumbledore himself?" Remus felt his heart miss a beat.

"I… No."

"No? Convenient." Winsor scoffed. His voice was eerily smooth, like a still body of water with a monster living beneath the surface. Though, Remus wasn't sure if the only reason he thought that was from his own biased opinion on the man. In any case, the scribe's quill marks seemed loud enough in his ears now that it was hard for him to focus on the chatter of the other members of the council anyway, who were buzzing with opinions he was sure were all for him being locked up in a cell for dangerous creatures.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may?" His father's voice startled Remus. He'd almost forgotten he was standing behind him the entire time. Basalt gestured for Lyall to step forward, and from his coat pocket, his father brought out the unmarked envelope from earlier. He lifted it in the air and the envelope floated towards the three interrogators, emptying its contents. Tucked inside were five large documents, all looking far too big to fit in such a small package. Remus leaned to the side to get a better look, but could only see the blank backs of the documents. Basalt and Chantilly averted their eyes almost immediately when it became clear to them what they were looking at. "Pass those around if you will when you're finished, I think they'll prove important soon enough."

"What is this, Lyall?

"Our defense." He put his arms behind his back and addressed the room as the documents were passed around, pacing the black marble floor and earning the same disgusted reaction from most of the other witches and wizards. "From the claw marks and teeth marks, it's unlikely that anything else in that part of the forest at the time would have been able to do this other than a werewolf. Especially the er… the _dismemberment."_ Remus then understood what his father kept in the envelope, and what it was the council was looking at. "See, _five_ distinct claw marks instead of four is usually a telltale. Opposable thumbs and all…" He held up and wiggled his own thumbs, making Remus vaguely smile.

"If you're arriving to some sort of point Lupin I suggest you make it. Your argument is hardly help—"

"Do you really think a twelve year old, who is still not fully grown human, let alone werewolf would have been able to do this?" Another murmur broke out into the council. Remus looked around and could see the turn of the tide himself.

"You're the expert." Winsor shrugged. "You tell us."

"Well the answer is obviously no. It's true that his strength increases considerably while he's transformed, but even a full-grown werewolf would have struggled to cleanly tear off a limb… usually they don't care enough to get that far after their victim is dead... Usually."

"You're saying another werewolf did this?" Asked Basalt, who was now rubbing his chin with an attentive look on his face.

"I am. It's the only logical explanation. It's not completely unheard of. As you said, they _were_ in the forbidden forest, which I would wager Zilar knew was against regulation as well. But, I suppose he had his reasons for putting himself and my son in danger." Remus perked up at his last comment, as well did the rest of the council. Different conversations sprouted between the lot of them until Basalt brought them all to order and cleared his throat.

"Then, in that case… They will need to be brought to justice."

"Indeed." Said Chantilly. "I think the rest of the council will agree as well that there is no further need to interrogate a child who was under the responsibility of the deceased. I doubt he lured Zilar into the forest on his own." The murmur in the room had agreeable tones, and Remus could feel himself relax into his chair. Before he could get too comfortable, Winsor leaned forward in his chair to speak again.

"All fascinating points. But pray tell, do you have any suspects or leads to the identity of the other beast?" His tone was condescending.

"I don't. Granted, his body was salted and burned before we even had a chance to get any samples from his wounds."

"The situation was delicate, we couldn't risk any other student—"

"With all due respect Mr. Winsor, destroying evidence puts them in even more danger."

"You clearly had enough evidence today."

"Clearing my son's name didn't require much more than photos and common sense. Placing someone at a murder requires a little more, _sir._ "

"Yes well, we have a registry for a reason. We can cross reference all of the werewolves until we find the right one."

"The Registry?" He scoffed. "That could take months—"

"If you've a better idea, I'm sure the council will be eager to hear it." Lyall shirked away on his last note. It was odd for Remus to see his father speechless. Winsor lifted his hand in the air, collecting the photographs and inserting them back into the envelope and sent it soaring back into Lyall's hands. He gave his father the same smirk Remus remembered so clearly from Zilar's memorial service. "I didn't think so."

"I think the Wizengamot has enough to come to a final decision." Said Basalt, breaking the tension and redirecting the focus of the room back onto Remus, who'd by now had forgotten he was the reason for the assembly.

"All in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?" Boomed Chantilly as her and Basalt both raised their hands first followed by a large chunk of the council. Remus could feel his excitement bubbling inside of him as he was too bundled with nerves to bother counting them all. "All those in favour of conviction?" Considerably less! There were only enough hands to count on one of his hands, thought he did note that Thalia's father had reserved his vote. Regardless, Remus and Lyall both sighed simultaneously in relief. Basalt stood to his feet to address the room again.

"Well done. The accused will be cleared of all charges and be allowed to enroll in his classes again. However, there will be more regulated Ministry visits to ensure this doesn't happen again." He slammed a gavel like object in his hands onto the wooden stand, the sound echoing with a type of finality that rang through Remus' bones. He was happy to have any charges against him lifted, but regulated Ministry visits to the school? It all seemed counterproductive to him especially considering who they'd be sending in. "And as for the murder, the case will now be left in the hands of Ms. Chantilly and Mr. Malfoy and will be followed up on… eventually. Dismissed."


	2. An Omen in the Alley

**Chapter Two**

 **An Omen in the Alley**

"I think that went quite well, don't you?" Asked Lyall as the two Flooed back into their living room covered in soot. Hope looked up from the kitchen counter while finishing up making their lunch when she rushed on over, looking at them both expectantly. "I mean, twenty years isn't too bad, but we'll have plenty of visit—"

"Lyall!" His mother chastised, making Remus giggle next to him as he loosened his tie and walked into the kitchen to greet her.

"Only a joke." He replied quickly after running his fingers through his hair while Hope poured Remus a bowl of soup.

"No more charges, mam. After dad was done with them, they dropped them." He said excitedly, burning his tongue on the soup from being a little too overzealous.

"Yes well, as long as we don't get too comfortable with your father's silver dipped tongue, we can keep your criminal record clean."

"We can only hope."

"As much as it pains me to admit, it wasn't my incredible cleverness that cleared you." He walked up behind Remus and messed his hair again, this time properly ruining all of his mother's hard work with the comb. "Now, be a good lad and fetch me my briefcase? It's in my study next to— Oh don't give me that look, the soup won't get cold in the minute it'll take you. Go on then." Remus grumbled getting out of his seat and headed down the hallway, trying his best to ignore the disgusting smooching sound coming from the kitchen as he left.

Since Remus was back home he never ventured much into his father's quarters despite it being right across the hall from his own bedroom. Entering it now reminded him of Dumbledore's office in the way everything had a messy sort of order, but still had a touch unique to him, mainly being the toy-like and quirky quality to the room as opposed to the headmaster's organized hints of sweeties and mystery.

He scanned the room quickly to find his dad's briefcase when his eyes met the brown leather casing sat neatly on top of a small pillar in the corner of the room by his father's desk. Remus dashed over and lifted the case and slung it in his hands when he realised the pillar had actually been a basin filled with water. Out of curiosity, he perched over the bowl to get a better look. The green tinge of the liquid reflected off his face when he realised it went deeper than what it could possibly hold on the outside. Remus took a step back to get a better look again when he realised it was a very particular form of magic indeed that made things look bigger on the inside.

When he peered into the water, he saw the mirror-like reflection of the room he was standing in until bits and shapes started to take form like blobs of ink dropping down into a new room forming in the basin. The first blob formed a type of bed, the next a chair, all of them falling one by one until there was a fully furnished room of ink blots silhouetting the displaced source of light. He started to feel a falling sensation in the pit of his gut that reminded him of when his mother would drive down hilly roads. Remus' sense his feet starting to leave the ground when he firmly placed them back on the carpet of his father's office and pulled his body upright so that was standing.

He'd never felt anything like it before. He took a step back away from the basin, and he could see the silhouettes and the separate room on the inside start to fade away from where he was standing. His mind raced with possibilities over what it was he stumbled upon. From the way the shapes formed, it looked like old furniture of his. Was it a way for his father to store his old things? He thought perhaps it was how witches and wizards store things, in basins and in water under the guise of inkblots. Suddenly the basin looked much less threatening and much more mysterious. As Remus craned his head over, he could see it was like someone was rewinding the blobs, the way the retreated to the surface so quickly. He could practically feel his heart pounding through his ears as if it true home were in between them. Feeling less wary, he took a step forwards towards the basin, and was relieved that he caught only his own reflection in the water.

There was another reflection of his Remus caught as he flicked his eyes up, this time being from the glass breakfront door built into the wall just above the basin. Through the glass and passed his tousle-haired reflection, he could see tiny bottles with labels all lining the shelves with a lone bottle at the bottom. He squinted to get a better look at his father's slanted handwriting from the lone bottle, just making out a capitol letter 'H' followed by a bunch of squiggles when his father's sudden voice calling his name startled him back to his task at hand. He rushed out of the room leaving the basin uncovered.

He promised himself another visit when his father wasn't home, but with school around the corner, snooping around his father's office started to lose its appeal until it was ultimately forgotten.

"The place is a bit packed this time around, isn't it?" Asked Hope as the Lupins meandered through Diagon Alley with Remus' returning supplies list. Like she said, the street had been considerably denser with people this year than the last.

"We're here during the rush now. Probably one of the busier days, but always when they have the best stuff." Said Lyall, not completely focused on the list but rather on Fortescue's ice cream parlor. Hope rolled her eyes again before looking along with Remus on his new list.

"I think the first stop should be books— Oh..." When he looked up to Flourish and Blott's where he would be getting his books, he could see a line wrapping around the street that he could barely make out the end of.

"Don't worry, we'll wait in line for you." She nudged his father, who still not paying attention, handed her a small leather and jingling pouch and then handed it to Remus. "You take this and get what you can carry. Hopefully by the time you're done we'll be at the door—"

"Wait, we're waiting here?" Lyall whined, finally grasping the reality of having to wait. She nudged him again and he cleared his throat, changing his tone. "Right. We'll wait here." Remus fought the urge to laugh at how miserable his father seemed at the prospect, but was thankful she'd given him the option to do as he pleased, even if it was only for a little while.

Compared to his list of books, the remainder of his supplies list was substantially smaller. Since most of the customers were queued outside of Flourish and Blott's, he was able to check out and pay much quicker and easier. He stopped by the reagents shop first to pick up the bulk of the materials, which mainly consisted of potions ingredients. The old witch at the counter was very helpful and accommodating, making polite conversation with Remus as she sorted his things. She even threw in a few extra bezoars and horned slugs for free, which he was very grateful for. Especially after he let slip that Potions wasn't his best subject. After she finally bagged his rune etchers and new scales, she bode him farewell and luck for his next year, making him smile brightly at her as he headed out the door.

"Poor boy. He would have been so handsome..." She said under her breath just as the bell rang in his exit, making him stand put just outside the door. He knew she never meant for him to hear her, just as he never meant to have listened, but unfortunately his ears weren't always as selective of the whispers they decided to pick up on. Remus looked down at the bag in his hand, now realizing why she'd been so polite. He wondered if he looked like James, Sirius, or Peter if she'd have done the same thing. He caught his reflection from the glass outside her door and immediately felt a lurch in his stomach, seeing the woman wave at him, as she must have thought he was looking at her. After a strained smile and a wave back, he followed his feet down the alley to the next shop.

He thankfully reached the last item on his list as he stopped in front of a small shop with a massive crystal ball just above the sign that read _Seer Seeker's_ in large glittering gold letters. Remus peered into the window of the shop, seeing the new portable telescope he'd needed before hearing a loud crash inside of the building followed by the worried shouts of a woman. He took a cautious step back as he could see her heading for the door very close to where he'd been standing.

"The Hollow!" She wailed as she predictably burst through the front door, making Remus glad he decided to take that step aside. She wore a large shawl and what seemed like hundred of rings and necklaces, and she smelled like fresh incense which made Remus wrinkle his nose at how pungent it was. "The Hollow is in danger!" She was frantic in her movements, walking into the middle of the Alley trying to grab someone's attention, and with every twist and turn she pulled her body, she jingled. "The Hollow mustn't be disturbed!" She cried again, now literally trying to grab the attention of other witches and wizards walking by tugging on their robes, all of who wore the same look of annoyance on their faces as they swore and brushed her off. She made a panicked noise before turning around, catching eyes with Remus who looked away a little too late as he could hear her jingling towards him while pretending to ogle at the telescope he needed. "You boy—" She said, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. "Yes, you're going to the school aren't you?" The rattled look in her stormy grey eyes was enough to make him humor her as he carefully nodded. She sighed in relief before hushing her voice down to a softer yet much more urgent tone. "Protect the Hollow or the Moon and the Stars will tear. The Grimoire pages will blank—"

"What?" He interrupted. This snapped his attention immediately. She must have known about the book of beasts or at least one of the other books Zilar mentioned. He was originally going to wait until he got to the school to speak with professor Dumbledore, but now she was the next place he'd be getting the answers to his unanswered questions, no matter how loony she seemed. The woman must have mistaken him interrupting her as misunderstanding. She searched his eyes and made another worried noise before turning to the streets and bringing her voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

"The Hollow holds the secrets to questions ought not be answered. Please, listen!" She cried again as a witch bumped shoulders with her to walk by. "Everything we will know will be forsaken and the wheel of time will come to a shattering halt! Minds will harrow, and the very course and direction of the universe will change, as we know it! The unknown must stay so! The unknown must—get your hands off me!" Two men in long brown trench coats that seemed to appear out of nowhere grabbed the witch on either side and started walking off with her down the streets as she repeated her words in warning.

What he just witnessed didn't seem real, it happened so fast. Before he had time to process what she said a familiar voice called out to and startled him.

"Oi! Remus!" Said James, making him turn his head down to a shop farther down the alley. He'd honestly never been more relieved to see him. With a goofy smile James strode over, his hair still very untidy in the back, and his large glasses now fitting his face a little better than they did a few months ago. In fact, now that he'd been closing in, Remus could see he'd grown a few inches in the few months since he saw him last. Still, seeing him now made Remus' stomach do flips as he returned a grin of his own.

"Hey James," Remus said as James bear hugged him. "Oof— Didn't miss me did you?"

"Miss you? 'Course not." He pulled away and now that they were face to face, Remus could see how much James stretched out. If he had to bet, he'd assumed his parents would be getting him a new uniform if his ankles weren't popping out of his trousers by now.

"Hey, what was that lady on about? Saw her making a scene from all the way back there, and it looked like you were in the middle of it."

"Nah, I think I just had the best view." Remus replied while fixing his hair in front of his face, hoping James didn't pick up on the nervous tilt to his voice as he nudged his head to get them both walking away from the Seer Seeker. "Seen Sirius or Peter yet?"

"I saw Peter in line at the book shop with his parents. I don't even think Sirius' family bothered showing up today… they like to keep public appearances to a minimum, being royalty and all"

"Royalty? I thought they were just purebloods?"

"'Just purebloods' he says. Don't let them catch you saying that." James laughed. Remus knew he was joking, but the last place he wanted to be was at the nasty end of a Black's curse if he was honest. "Speaking of parents, you haven't met mine yet have you?"

"No I don't think so. I think I saw them on the platform back in June but—"

"But nothing. They're dying to meet you and yours since I've told them all about you and all of your deepest darkest secrets"

"I hope not." Remus replied, smiling to himself.

"Well they liked your letters the most since you had the most legible handwriting."

"And here I thought earning the love of your parents would be difficult. Where are they?"

"They're just there talking to some red bird and— oh! That's your mum and dad innit?" Remus whipped his head forward so fast he almost got whiplash. Sure enough, He saw his parents smiling in conversation with another couple.

"Yeah, it is." He'd recognized them immediately as James parents from his father's stature and his mother's soft facial features. The only thing that caught Remus by surprise was that they seemed a little older than he expected. From where he was looking on as the pair treaded towards them, Remus couldn't help but compare that his parents looked like they were in Technicolor compared to James'. "They look like they're getting on all right."

Just as they'd arrived, the truth was sealed as Mr. Potter ruffled the back of James' head. The untidiness now made sense. When Remus stood next to his parents, his dad took his newest shopping bag of new supplies from his hands while chitchatting on that the line was moving much faster than he thought.

"You must be Remus." Said Mrs. Potter, smiling sweetly at him and reminding him regretfully of his Nan. Not daring to forget his manners, Remus held out his hand to shake hers first.

"I am, and it's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Potter, and Mr. Potter too." Both of James parents raised their eyebrows at the same time while taking turns to shake his hand. He could practically feel his own mother's relief that he remembered his etiquette.

"And you." Said Mr. Potter in a slightly hoarse voice. Remus noticed him glance at his face quickly before blinking his eyes back to eye contact with him. James must have told them about his disfigurement prior to their meeting, and considering the last comment he heard about his scars, he was grateful to his father for making such a subtle gesture. As he grasped Mr. and Mrs. Potter's hands, the realization hit him that it had been the first time he kept a friend long enough to meet their parents. He tried to mask his excited smile with a much softer and less maniacal one to keep from scaring them off. They didn't flinch, so he assumed it worked.

"Dorea and Charlus were just waiting in line right behind us when we heard talk about their son who happened to be the famous James Potter whose letters still litter your bedroom floor." Said Hope, earning a giggle from the rest of them.

"That's right. James has been on about his friends all holiday, and we couldn't be more thrilled to finally put some names to faces." Every time James' mother spoke, the twinkle in her eye made James giddy. The relationship he seemed to have with his parents was similar to his own, and he couldn't resist a small smile at the fact.

"Ah, agreed! Now we know who else to look for if either of you get yourselves into trouble this year." Lyall replied, cutting the boys a look that read murder if another owl holding a notice of detention letter darkened his window sill.


	3. The Youngest Black

**Chapter Three**

 **The Youngest Black**

The whistle of the Hogwarts express echoed loudly across the platform as the Lupins emerged from the barrier to accompany Remus to board. They'd arrived early enough that the queue to stow his trunk wasn't anywhere near as atrocious as it was to get his books in the Alley. However, the impending approach of witches and wizards was coming any second, and without wasting any time, Lyall gabbed Remus' trunk and rolled it towards one of the doormen to pack.

Just like last year, his father had run off in the middle of the platform. Hope sighed then laughed at his predictability as her and Remus strolled away from the entrance to avoid getting plowed down by any more incoming students, who were slowly starting to pile in from the portal. Lyall jogged back to rejoin his family, and  
before too long, the station was packed with sound and colours of witches and wizards all frantically saying their goodbyes and packing their own trunks.

"It leaves at eleven sharp, doesn't it?" Lyall asked as he rolled up his sleeve to check his watch.

"We still have a few minutes if you're wondering how long you'll be rid of me."

"Oh good, one of us is keeping count."

"Take care Remus. You know if you need anything you can write. Promise you'll write?"

"I promise, mam."

"Good. Now give us a cwtch." She said, opening up her arms. Without feeling embarrassed, he embraced his mother, taking a deep breath to remember her scent one last time before he saw her again. A few seconds later, his dad joined in the hug and messed Remus' hair before they sent him off to board the train.

xxx

After the Hogwarts Express made its first bend and the station was out of sight, Remus relaxed back into his cushion in the empty car he managed to procure all by himself. It was easier to get his hands on since most of the other students, including his friends, were still out by the windows of the main car still waving goodbye. He knew the rest of them would start filing in soon, he just hoped the others would get there before another group mobbed him out claiming he'd be hogging a car to himself—

As if on cue and without warning, a small skinny boy, much like himself slid the door open and sat down on the cushions opposite of him. His short black hair was combed back neatly, and he kept his eyes fixed on his twiddling thumbs as he took his seat.

"Hiya." Said Remus. He felt a knot of guilt knowing he'd have to kick them out to spare teasing from the others. Something about him made Remus feel like it wouldn't take long. Still, he would be remiss if he weren't polite. "I'm Remus, Remus Lupin. Wh-"

"Oi! Lupin!" Called out the sharp and familiar voice of Sirius Black. Remus felt his heart leap in his chest at the sight of him, just like he felt when he saw James for the first time all summer just the day before. In fact, now that he thought about it, he could tell Sirius and James had been keeping in touch a lot this summer by the similar way they greeted him.

Even from sitting down, Remus could see that Sirius had gotten taller too, and just when he didn't think it possible, could see that he managed to keep his hair in an even bigger curly mess than before.

"Missed you this summer, mate. Which reminds me, I've got loads to tell you." This wasn't surprising in the least bit. It always seemed like everything Sirius Black did was loud and hard to miss, so he didn't expect his summer holiday to be anything less. Still, the elephant in the car, or the extra boy rather, still lingered. Even though he wasn't looking down anymore, he didn't bother paying any attention at all to Sirius. Oddly enough, he looked _bored_.

"Sirius—"

"So because I was so sacrilegiously banned from writing you, you didn't get a chance to hear this story when it happened in all of its glory." Remus glanced from Sirius to the boy, and felt himself get anxious from the awkwardness. "I'm at the house, minding my own business when I find a doxy hiding in one of my curtains— A doxy, that's like a tiny blue fairy." He said, waving his hand. Remus appreciated Sirius giving him a breakdown since most of the time he had to play catch up with things that are normal in the wizarding world. Still, Remus found himself opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water trying to interrupt him. "So, I think to myself, when am I ever going to get another opportunity like this? They have these poison fangs you see, _super_ irritating—"

"Sirius!" Remus piped up, making Sirius stop and jump. Without speaking, Remus subtly nodded his head towards the boy sitting on the other side. He hoped that Sirius would catch on enough to be the one to break the ice since he had a knack for that sort of thing. Also, Remus wouldn't have dared tried again after one failed introduction.

"Oh. Sorry, I thought you two would have met by now since… Nevermind. Remus, this is my little brother Regulus." Remus whipped his head forward to look at Regulus again. He only just remembered James mentioning in his last letter that Sirius or Peter's younger brother would be starting school with them. Now that they were sitting in front of him, it seemed a bit surreal since Sirius was the only one of them who wasn't an only child. Knowing they were brothers now made their resemblance unquestionable, especially in their eyes. Now that Regulus was addressed, he tore his attention away from his hands and looked directly at Remus. After one look at the same stormy gray eyes, it was clear that niether of them would be able to deny the other. "Reg, this is obviously Remus." He continued, waving his hand nonchalantly, obviously aching to continue on with his story.

"Your half-blooded friend, right?" said Regulus, glancing at Sirius for a second before looking back over to Remus. He was polite the way he didn't let his gaze linger on Remus' scars, just like Mr. Potter. The gesture made him gloss over his patronizing tone.

"Yes." Remus replied without a second's hesitation. Condescending or not, being half-muggle wasn't anything he was ashamed of… especially knowing hat else he was hiding. He didn't like to believe the Blacks' family prejudices, especially if it meant that anyone in Sirius' family was as nasty as he made them out to be. "It's nice to meet you. "

"…Likewise."

The way Regulus spoke was strange, like there was an odd strain in his soft voice. Even though they looked alike, in the few minutes he'd known Regulus, he couldn't think of someone more polar opposite to his own brother. An eerie silence hung in the air for a second or two before Sirius ruffled his hair and spoke up again.

"I thought you'd be sitting with Parker and… your other friends?" He asked, clearly in a tone that said he was looking to get rid of him.

"I can sit where I want."

"Clearly. Well then suit yourself. The car's gonna fill up once James and Peter get here, so if you want you can stick around until then that's fine. But it's gonna get crowded in here pretty soon, so—"

"He can sit with us." Remus interjected, making them both look at him now. Their combined focused attention made him hesitate. "I mean, I'll probably have more room over here anyway…" Sirius raised his eyebrows and shook his head at him to silently signal what Remus assumed to begin with, that he had no intention of spending any train time with his brother.

"That's okay… I think I see 'Cissa anyway." Regulus replied as he quietly stood up and readjusted his pack sling over his shoulder before scurrying off. Remus' eyes followed him until he vanished beyond the view of the car window.

"'Cissa?" He asked, whipping his head around back to Sirius.

"Narcissa. The one who's _betrothed_ to Lucius Malfoy." Said Sirius as he rolled his trunk into the middle of the seats to kick his feet up onto as he plopped down into the cushions. "You know, blonde hair, green robes, never seen without a mirror?" Remus thought back to his sorting the year before to the glowering Slytherin table after Sirius sorting, vaguely remembering his description. "We're the last three Blacks to be in Hogwarts right now, you know. It's some big deal apparently."

"Right…" Remus replied distantly as his eyes trailed back to the car window looking into the train's corridor. He couldn't help feeling self-conscious that he was the reason Regulus left so quickly.

"I wouldn't sweat him being so skittish… I don't think it's personal, I think he's just nervous about his sorting." Remus turned his head to look at Sirius again as he spoke. "To be fair, I told him he'll be in Hufflepuff as a joke and it wound him up for a week." Oddly enough, the notion did make him feel a little better.

As predicted, James and Peter showed up in the next few minutes, fumbling their trunks to fit underneath the seats and finally getting comfortable enough for all of them to enjoy all being together again since school let out. Unlike James and Sirius, Peter didn't grow nearly as much over the summer. Though he wasn't as short before, his body did seem to keep up with the same portly shape with the extra few inches of height he gained.

"Everyone have a good summer then?" Peter asked as he took his seat next to Remus, whom it was obvious his question was directed towards anyway since he'd been the most out of touch among the four.

"It was okay. A bit boring, once you have using magic again to look forward to." Said Remus. They all agreed.

"Well go on, tell us about muggle summers then." Said James. "Did you drive a car?"

"No, I'm still too young for that." Remus chuckled.

"Wow, that _is_ boring."

"Told y—" Just before he could finish his thought, he caught a glimpse of ginger from the corner of his eye from the window, heading down the corridor. Remus stood to his feet in a second, only barely remembering letting his friends know he'd be right back before darting out to catch up with Lily.

xxx

He didn't realise how fast he'd been moving as standing up and running right away made him light-headed after leaving the car to catch up. Just before he could utter a greeting by the time he caught up to her, Lily flipped her hair to turn around and faced him with a smile. The summer had changed her as well. Her freckles seemed to multiply on her face spreading more into her cheeks, and she'd grown slightly taller than him now. He also didn't think it was possible, but her eyes looked an even deeper shade of emerald than he remembered.

"Remus!" She uttered, throwing her arms around him to pull him in for an embrace. Remus could feel his ears grow warmer until he caught sight of Severus, looking as gaunt and brooding as ever over her shoulder, killing any buzz he'd hoped to gain. Remus wasn't surprised to see him with her, as the two seemed to be attached at the hip when they weren't in classes or feasts in school. He always thought they made a odd pair of friends since the two of them were so opposite.

"Hey Lily. Remus replied. He was genuinely happy to see her again and beamed back at her. "You all right, Severus?" He asked mostly to be polite. The boys weren't as friendly with eachother, but he didn't want to be so rude as to ignore his presence. Severus folded his arms and nodded with a prompt 'and you' that Remus didn't quite catch since his attention was focused elsewhere.

"How was your summer? Bring back any tricks for your family?"

"I wish… I hate that we can't use magic. I think it might have been for the best anyway. After I showed them one of the chocolate frogs you sent me, I think they almost passed out, especially my sister."

"Clearly, the heart of the lion." Severus sniggered.

"I'm glad they served you well, then! And you Severus?" Remus asked awkwardly, making the playful smile on Severus' lips disappear before he replied.

"It was fine."

The silence hung between the three of them before Lily politely cleared her throat to speak again.

"…Well, I think we're off. I've told Marlene to save us some seats so she's waiting on me." She flashed him another pretty smile before throwing her arms around him again in an embrace, making his stomach do a somersault. "I'm glad to see you again though, I've missed you."

"Missed you too…" He managed to utter despite having the wind knocked out of him. "And you."

"… Thank you." Said Severus before shuffling off uncomfortably to follow Lily.

xxx

Remus felt odd standing in the middle of the train corridor now that his brief interaction was over, and he certainly didn't want to come back to his friend's car to explain that he bolted off just to talk to a girl. Thankfully he spotted the sweets cart which proved to be a sufficient distraction.

"What'll it be deary?" Said the witch as she reached into the middle of the cart, pulling out a bouquet of candied flowers with sugar stems for decoration. Remus knew he must have caught her at the beginning of the rounds, which meant he had his choice pick.

"Peppermint toads, please." He said politely as he reached his hands towards a stack of familiar purple pentagonal boxes filled with his favourite treat.

"Half a dozen of the chocolate frogs as well, eh?" She giggled in reply. Almost immediately after he nodded, the boxes replaced themselves from the spot he grabbed them as if there were tiny invisible workers stacking to restock them. He excitedly reached in his pocket for the few galleons he knew his sweet tooth would cost him, when the familiar scent of honey blew through the corridor.

"Keep eating chocolates like that and your teeth will fall out." Said a soft and sweet voice that he recognized immediately. When he looked up, Thalia Winsor had been right behind him in line to the cart, beaming at him with her forget-me-not eyes that were framed by her straight blonde bangs across her forehead. Remus couldn't help feeling excited and nervous to see her again considering the note they left on the last time they spoke. She put together his secret, promised she wouldn't tell, and that was it. Looking at the innocence of her rounded face and tight-lipped grin now made it hard to believe she was aware of the things she knew. "How was your summer?" She asked, as he quickly turned around to hand the coins to the witch, not even bothering to collect his change.

"Quiet." Said Remus as the witch lightly tapped on his shoulder trying to give him his due coin. "I mean well… you know… But good. Oh— Thank you, ma'am" The two of them squeezed into a nook so that the woman could push her cart through to make her trip down the corridor, leaving the two of them alone to chat. "How— what about you?"

"It came and it went." She shrugged, fixing her jumper sleeves so that they covered most of her hands. "Listen, I—" She was cut off by the abrupt bang of the cabin window sliding open, revealing a boy with an untidy mess of blonde hair that could put James' to shame.

"Oi, could you grab me some— Oh hello, Remus." Said the boy. Remus recognized his face and knew he knew the boy from last year's sorting and in passing form the classes the Gryffindors shared with the Slytherins. Other than that, anything else about him escaped Remus' memory. Thankfully, Thalia seemed to pick up on his absentmindedness.

"You know Blake, don't you?" She said, shooting a look towards Blake who was still stood giving the pair of them a crooked smile from the window.

"Right, yeah! We had Defense and Charms last year, didn't we?" Remus asked.

"I think I was usually on the other end of the room, but yeah." He flashed Remus a charming smile that made him think of Sirius, next. "I hope you won't think too much of me based on some housemates of mine… namely the prats."

"Not at all." He half-lied.

"Good. Hate for you to sort us all with some of the bad apples. Especially if we have charms again this year, I'll want you as my partner if we have to be teamed up."

"I— Okay."

"Fantastic." He flashed Remus another crooked smile again breaking his attention away to see the sweets had been long gone. "I'll be in the car whenever you're finished up, Thalia. Good seeing you." He nodded his head towards Remus before shutting the window.

Remus went into a sort of sensory overload after that. He hadn't ever spoken or vaguely interacted with Blake before that moment, but in doing so he had a strange longing to be with his friends again. It was a little bizarre to him that Thalia associated with him at all now that he thought of it. She sort of reminded him of Peter with her round cheeks, and only hoped that her relationship with him wasn't anything like how James and Sirius treated _him_.

"We were kind of raised together. Like cousins, I guess." She piped up, breaking yet another awkward silence they found each other in. He nodded and suddenly found his chocolate frog boxes incredibly interesting. "Remus, a-about everything, I—"

"I should probably…" He interrupted. He didn't want to be so rude, but he couldn't handle talking about the subject with her. Not on the train with so many people… and certainly not before he was ready to. It was hard to face her. Talking to her about it made what happened to Professor Zilar more real. He felt guilty for being selfish, but he hoped Thalia would understand.

"Of course." She replied, giving him soft smile before turning around to go back into the car to join Blake. "I'll see you around school? Hopefully we'll have Herbology together again."

"We better if Professor Sprout expects me to maintain the same marks."

x-x-x

Hogwarts castle had been just as Remus remembered it, with the exception of the self pulling carriages taking them to the entrance rather than crossing over on boats. It was a different experience, but welcome nonetheless. If he was honest, it made him feel _cool_ knowing what was in store.

All of the students filed into the Great Hall, seemingly filling it to the brim. The four long tables separating the houses extended the length of the room, only to give a break to house the perpendicular table holding all of their professors. The only thing between them was the stool holding the incredibly old and dusty Sorting Hat.  
All of the Professors chatted amongst themselves on the far table at the end of the room as the students seated themselves with their respective housemates. The headmaster, professor Dumbledore, had the tallest chair directly in the middle of the panel. His silver hair and beard looked just as long and wise as he remembered, his friendly blue eyes peeking through his half-moon spectacles at professor Slughorn, who seemed to already be helping himself to a bit of wine before the festivities. Just when the Great Hall started to erupt into a dull roar, the headmaster lifted his hands to silence them all. Before signaling at professor McGonagall at the other end of the room that they were ready for the sorting.

The most dramatic part of the sorting was at the beginning when Sirius practically stood at the edge of his seat as his little brother was placed into Slytherin house, much to his own disappointment.

"Can't say I didn't expect it." He said as the applause roared at the far end of the hall from the Slytherins cheering him on. He lazily clapped along, poorly trying to hide his expression of annoyance.

"Look at the bright side," said Peter, "at least you don't have to worry about him squealing to your parents when you moan about them to us."

"Oh, good point."

The hat didn't seem to take as long on this lot as Remus felt it did on them the previous year, even though the class didn't seem to look much smaller. He was just happy to see that they seemed to get a decent lot of Gryffindors this time around, it was only girls this time though which he thought was good to balance out it mainly being boys his year. It meant that Marlene and Lily would have much more company at least. He'd gotten caught up in the whole thing that Remus didn't even realise how excited he'd gotten every time one was placed with them until he thought about where the sudden tingly feeling in his hands was coming from.

When everyone was finished settling in, professor Dumbledore approached his podium to address the students.

"Congratulations to the newly sorted. We do so look forward to your new journey along with us. To those of you returning, warmest welcomes back." Remus felt his stomach do a somersault. "I promise to keep this as short as I can possibly manage… you know how I like to hear myself speak. Firstly, some ground rules. For what may be obvious reasons, under _no_ circumstance is any student allowed passed the bounds of the school into the Forbidden Forest." When he paused, the room fell silent enough to hear a pen drop. Just as quickly as Remus' stomach flipped, it turned over again to sink. He knew he'd been the reason why the boundaries would be more severe. It was to prevent another accident, another attack. He swallowed hard as he kept his eyes fixed on the headmaster, waiting for him to finish. After a few seconds, his tone changed into one much more pleasant. "Second, allow me to introduce your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lysa Folly." He gestured his hand behind him to his left to a woman with caramel coloured skin, who stood up and took off her witch's hat.

She practically commanded the attention of the room without even speaking. She had a large mouth and eyes, which crinkled into a smile that lit up the room. She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and bowed her head to accept her introduction. She curtseyed as the room broke out into applause, and took her seat again.

"Professor Folly is joining us from the Salem Witches Institute from America, so I'm sure she will have plenty of knowledge to give. Now, that concludes any announcements, so now to the part we're all waiting for. He clapped his hands together and the feast materialized on the table before them.

Every morsel of food lookeds pristine and delectable from the turkey legs dripping with grease, to the glistening honey buns and iced sweet rolls. Even the fruit and vegetables looked more appetizing. Remus dug in immediately with the others, listening to Peter's satisfied noises as he learned from his mistake last year in saving room on the train instead of loading up on sweets.

The room started to buzz as the feast went on. Conversation usually circled around the same thing, which was their new suddenly incredibly foreign and interesting professor.

"I heard that at the Salem Institute, they sort you by seeing how resistant you are to fire."

"I think she looks fun."

"All the way across the ocean though? Must have been tough."

"Hopefully she doesn't end up like Professor Zilar."

"She's a real beauty, eh?" Said James, snapping Remus' attention back to his own table rather than zeroing in on the conversations elsewhere. "Think she'd wait for me?"

"She'd be crazy not to, mate." Remus replied, giggling into his bite of steak which as usual was far too overcooked.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Now, I already know what you're thinking.

I know it been two months since my last post, but let me tell you, writers block is a very real thing. Sorry for the long break! I just had a schedule change with my job too so my groove has been lost while I've been getting used to that as well, ugh. But! When I checked in on the stories, I still saw loads of you guys still reading and generally being awesome and encouraging and it so totally helped.

Thankfully I've gotten some of my mojo back, so this train is still going!

I wanted to address though, just in case there was any speculation in abandonment, I can pretty much guarantee that this will be a project that's definitely worth finishing from start to finish, and by project I do mean series. (Heck we're already on book 2 in less than a year, so whoop).

Again, the link to the blog is linked to my profile, where updates are a lot more reliable moving forward.

Thanks so much again for reading on, my friends. It truly means a lot that you're willing to put up with two months of a wait and still want the rest. While I'm not underestimating the power of closure, it still makes it all worth the hard work.


	4. Homecoming

**Chapter Four**

 **Homecoming**

There wasn't a need for any alarm in the morning with James and Sirius stomping around getting ready. It could have been the beginning of the year buzz that had them up in so early, but Remus knew better. Their first class had been Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it was quite obvious that most of the boys fancied the new professor; at least, enough to want to show up early to class to get a good seat. As he wiped the sleep away from his eyes and lazily tamed his bedhead, it didn't hit him that he'd really been back until he heard them bickering about whose shirt and socks belonged to who. There was always something really homey about their arguments. He and Peter hung back to get ready at their usual times. Peter was never one for needing to wake up a second sooner than absolutely necessary, and Remus certainly wasn't going to let him fend for himself.

"Want us to save you guys seats?" James asked as he sauntered through the door leading to out of the dormitory,

"No? Alright, we'll see you!" Sirius picked up right behind him, neither of them at all waiting for them to answer.

 _xxx_

Being back in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom gave Remus a deep chill from the moment he entered. There wasn't any sign of the professor right away, only the packed front row seats of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw boys while the other students slowly filtered in. He took his seat towards the back and got himself settled until the class officially started, letting his mind and eyes wander off until they eventually rested on the teacher's desk.

He tilted his head slightly looking at it. It was strange thinking such a simple thing used to be the home of the Book of Beasts, a book that now, quietly stayed beneath his floorboards at home where it was hidden. He'd done his best to keep it at the back of his mind, but the more he stared at the desk, the more he could swear he was hearing that all too familiar hum of the book calling out to him.

The loud creak of the hinges of the Professors' room swung open and startled him back into the moment as he along with the rest of the class watched in silence as Professor Folly sauntered down the stairs. Unlike the style of robes Remus was expecting her to have, he noticed her long dark red coat fit to her body, almost like a dress. Perhaps it was to make her feel less constricted in garments that were so flowing and large, especially in a class that usually involved the most movement. Underneath her her coat she seemed to be in comfortable and unique cloth wear that almost made him uncomfortable to stare at for too long. While it was all still modestly cut and fit, everything seemed to fit to her shape enough that he was sure the boys who managed to get a seat up front were enjoying their view.

"Good morning students. It's nice to see that you all managed to get here on time." She said, the twang and dip in her voice reminding Remus of the American actresses in the movies he'd watch at home. Even so, there was still an awkward pause when the students who'd never heard her kind of accent before took a moment to adjust. She must have picked up on it since she slowed down the pace of her voice slightly and annunciated her words a little more after that… even though it probably wasn't necessary. "I know the headmaster introduced me at the feast, but I wanted to do so again with you all here. So, I'm Professor Folly." She rocked forward on the balls of her feet and smiled before continuing on. "Now, I know it's only the first day, but—" She was cut off by Alice Fortescue shooting her hand in the air so fast Remus could almost hear the wind from her robes. "Yes?"

"Are you really from America?" She asked with all eyes on her.

"Mhm, I am… from the New England area, actually. The uh, eastern coast for those of you who might know—" Another hand, but this time by one of the Ravenclaw boys in the front.

"Are there loads of schools there like this?"

"Well, probably not as many as you think. It's a bigger country but there are a lot more of what I know you call here 'muggles'. The pool of witches and wizards is still small." She leaned back into the desk with her hands grasping her wand in front of her. Thankfully she had a patient sort of smile that made it obvious to Remus at least that she was used to the questions by now. "Oh— but certainly not in any castles like this. This is way too fancy, and America hasn't ben around as long."

"What made you want to come all the way to Hogwarts?" Asked Lily. This seemed to be the question that drew the most attention, since it was probably the one on everyone's mind since she'd been introduced. What did possess someone to cross an ocean just to be a teacher? Remus was certainly eager to know as well…

"Because _I_ ," she replied while lifting herself of the desk and flicking her wand to mark a page number on the chalkboard for them to turn to. "Want to help shape and mold the minds of witches and wizards like yourselves." There was a collective groan in the class as the hope for an easy first day fizzled out. "Oh, come on, I've been looking forward to my second years' lessons since we get to start with one of my favourites." When Remus turned to the page, he stopped and tilted his head at the picture of a witch rather comically being weighed against a duck on a massive balancing scale. "As your resident Salem Witch, I would be a failure if I didn't teach you all how to protect yourselves from burning at the stake." A few students started to get excited as this would probably be the only opportunity they'd all get the be allowed to play with fire. "I hope you haven't gotten rusty this summer."

 _xxx_

Rusty didn't even begin to scratch the surface. For the next few weeks in classes, it seemed like everyone was playing catch up when it came to casting. Simple nonsense magic came back in a cinch without too much trouble… it was the spells the teachers expected them to cast without any problem in the first few weeks of returning to classes that seemed to cause the most trouble. Transfiguration proved to be particularly difficult since the need to turn a door mouse into a spool of string wasn't at the top of anyone's priority list over the holiday. It was strange how quickly looking forward to use magic again turned into a chore when it was actually expected of them to use it.

Thankfully it didn't take too terribly long for the muscle memory of wand waving and _actual_ memory of incantations to make their way back into Remus' brain, and in ideal timing. Especially when it was all he'd really been concentrating on... If he buried himself any more, he'd have started casting spells in his sleep.

The full moon was creeping closer and closer, and despite having gotten a jump on his homework to keep himself from playing catch up after his recovery, he still felt the unseen pressure of needing to work harder than the other students in his year to keep himself from falling behind in the days lost during his transformations. The silver lining of it all was that the first full moon was on a weekend. At least then he wouldn't have to start out missing classes to raise any suspicion.

 _xxx_

The afternoon of, Remus waited until he knew his friends were down in the Great Hall eating lunch to pack a small bag of his change of clothes. He realised he picked a good time to et going if the beginning soreness and stiffness in his body was anything to go by, especially since the telltale signs of his changes were starting to rear in. He wiped his forehead before heading out the dormitories… it always did begin with the cold sweats.

Just as he emerged into the common room from the stairs and walked towards the portrait hole, he took a quick peek into his bag for last-minute inventory before a sudden voice jolted him in surprise.

"Remus?" James called out from the main common room table, sitting in front of what looked like a mountain of parchment and spellbooks. Remus would have been proud if he wasn't so unhappy to see him. At first his expression towards James was perplexed since he expected him to be gone for lunch with Peter and Sirius. He didn't know if he felt more confused or disappointed or just a sad mixture of both, but if anything he was feeling was clear, it was discomfort. "Where you going?" He took an extra second to register that it was indeed James talking to him when he realised that he needed to respond.

"N-Nowhere." He replied, clearing his throat and trying to deflect the question. "Where are _you_ going?" _…Pathetically._

"Oh you know, the Quidditch pitch to practice before tryouts, obviously." James shrugged, sarcasm thick in his voice before rolling his eyes and pulling of the spellbooks in front of him. "I've been working on this _stupid_ potions assignment since I woke up this morning… I don't even know what time it is."

"Since when did you spend an entire Saturday morning doing school work?" Remus asked, trying and failing to not sound so patronising.

"Not all of us actually _enjoy_ doing our homework early, Lupin." James sighed as he flipped through the pages of his book. "Really though, where are you goin'?"

"Just… for a walk around. I missed it around here. I think now's the first opportunity I've had in a while to stretch out my legs."

"Huh… With a bag full of your things?"

"Yeah." Remus responded, this time prompting James to actually look up at him. At first his expression looked frustrated, but then it changed quickly in to concern before he spoke again.

"You feeling alright? You look kind of peaky." He asked. Acting surprised, Remus placed his hand over his own forehead to check his temperature.

"Oh… Now that you mention it, I have been feeling a little off. Maybe I should head down to the hospital wing then. I think I must be coming down with something." There was a long pause waiting for James' reply in which Remus hoped he bought it.

"Yeah. Best you go then. Better than spreading around what you've got."

"That's the idea." Remus replied, nodding in agreement before turning on his heel to head out of the portrait hole. He was quite proud of the way their interaction played out in his favour so that he wasn't completely lying to him. Though as he sorely made his way down the staircases, he made a mental note to be a little more careful in his escapes.

 _xxx_

He opened the doors to the Hospital wing, and as usual, Madam Pomfrey was ready and waiting to help pack and escort him to the Shrieking Shack. Despite the circumstance, she looked as happy to see him as he did her.

"I don't know how you're going to see with all that hair in your face." She said, holding her hands out for his things to repack. "Won't be long before you're going to be able to tie it up like mine."

"It's fine." He replied sheepishly, making her giggle.

"Right. I'm not really one to talk about style, am I? Oh… Didn't you close the door?" she asked, making Remus whip his head around, the motion sudden enough to almost make him dizzy. Sure enough, it was cracked enough where someone would be able to peer in their conversation if they wanted to. Granted, they hadn't revealed anything incriminating since he'd arrived, but it still wasn't like him to even be _that_ careless. "Don't worry yourself too much. We're on our way out anyway, aren't we?" He nodded in reply. There wasn't a point in dwelling on a simple mistake, especially while he could feel himself getting more sensitive to his surroundings with every minute. The sooner they left for the Shack, the better.

 _xxx_

Their walk to the Whomping Willow seemed longer this time around. With the new rules in place about the Forbidden Forest being even _more_ forbidden along with the weekend traffic of students scattered around the grounds made for a longer route to keep them as out of the open as possible before dark. What was more, the autumn air was so pungent that it was almost enough to make Remus sick to his stomach. Of course, he was rather limited. It was either focusing on the pungent smell of Hagrid the groundskeeper's harvest, or focus on whatever Remus was wearing that dragged the earthy musk of the Gryffindor common room with him.

"How have your transformations been this summer?" Madam Pomfrey asked, breaking him out of his train of thought.

"They've been okay. The headmaster let me use the Shack all summer, which was really nice."

"Oh, that's lovely. I was hoping you'd be able to."

"It's much better than the old dusty cellar I used to use. It was definitely not built for werewolves." There was a long pause after his comment.

"I couldn't imagine. I'm glad to know we've all found something that works." She replied to end them on a cheerful note until they arrived at the Willow. The routine had been so ingrained by now that Remus was only vaguely aware of the twitching and swinging branches enough to make sure he wasn't in immediate danger of being whacked as he made his way to prod the knot of wood to freeze the tree. Within moments the pair of them disappeared into the opening that led them straight into the Shack to usher in his first Full Moon since he'd returned.

~x-x-x~

James avoided the Great Hall on his walk back into the Gryffindor common room to reflect on what he'd just seen and heard. He would have thought about it on his way there, but something like hearing one of your friends allude to being a werewolf needed to be mulled over. _Carefully_. He was in left in such a place of disbelief when he entered the dormitory; he didn't even bother taking of his invisibility cloak when he sat down on his mattress.

Remus had always been acting strange since they met. Not the awkward and annoying strange like Peter, and not the bad habit and mischievous strange like Sirius, but his own way of being… _odd_. He was secretive and reserved with his dry little sense of humour, but It never bothered James until earlier that day when he'd had been acting almost unrealistically suspicious. He almost wished he had left it since he would have been spared the last hour or so of his life, but after all of that build-up there was no way James was going to believe he was just _'just going for a walk.'_

He only thought Remus was hiding a crush he could tease him for later, or even going to an humiliating club meeting like Frog Choir. All that talk a few hours ago about werewolves and transformations made him feel cold and clammy only thinking about it. A few seconds later, James found himself dragging his eyes to the clock. Had it really only been that long since he decided to grab his cloak and trail Remus to the hospital wing? The walk to the Willow behind the two of them certainly seemed shorter than the walk back on his own…

Perhaps it wasn't real.

Remus _did_ have that dry sense of humour from the rest of them, so maybe it was just his attempt at a practical joke. He knew about James' cloak after all, so it wouldn't have been totally out of the question for him to get the matron in on it just to wind James up. He would be the type of person to bring teachers in on something as well, now that he thought of it—

"There you are!" Sirius belted in his usual loud and boisterous voice, startling James. "We've been looking for you, mate."

"Yeah, you _and_ Remus." Peter added. "I don't think I've seen him all day today. Have you?"

"Nope." He lied. "But you know how he is. Remus likes his alone time."

"Yeah, whatever." Sirius replied, waving his hand as he fell back into his own mattress before putting his arms behind his head. "The real question is whether or not you've gotten ready for Quidditch tryouts."

"Yeah, second years _never_ get seeker, so you'll need lots of practice." Said Peter, making them both stare at him angrily. "What? At least with you getting a head start on homework there'll be more time, right?"

"He speaks the truth." Sirius shrugged. "You've been talking about it for a few weeks now. 'Sides, nothing sounds like more fun on a Sunday than throwing rocks for you to catch on a broomstick." In all honesty, James didn't feel like there was enough room in his brain for Quidditch anymore despite Sirius being right or it truly being all he could think about since McGonagall posted the notice for tryouts in a few weeks.

"Sure. Tomorrow then." He replied, lying back down as well. It seemed so silly to him now.

"You say that like it's bedtime at half six." Peter snorted.

"It is for me. I've been reading and writing and wand waving and… _studying_ all day."

"You sound like Remus."

"Yeah he does." Sirius giggled. You can't be ready for bed now… it's not like we don't do the same thing during the week, mate—"

"I'm just tired, alright?" James snapped, cutting Sirius off coolly.

"Tch. Whatever. Let's go Peter. We shall leave Princess Potter to get her beauty sleep." Sirius nodded his head towards the door, prompting Peter to give them both a torn look before eventually tottering out the door with Sirius. "I think he left his homework for us to compare to anyway…"

James wasn't in any mood to be pestered by them. Even if he would regret his attitude later, he had Remus' trick to focus on… and he would be getting to the bottom of it.

 _xxx_

Sleep hadn't come right to him since he'd shut down Peter and Sirius, especially since he'd been anxiously awaiting Remus to quietly sneak in and play it off like he hadn't gone off for most of the day before. With so much on his mind, he was surprised he even managed the few hours of sleep he _did_ get. James was at least thankful that the dawn was breaking on a day without any classes for him to catch up on sleep on. His gaze tore between the sun slowly creeping over the mountains beyond the castle and the folded pile of his invisibility cloak at the edge of his bed.

It only occurred to him then that If Remus really were a werewolf and the matron was in on it, surely he'd be attended to in the hospital wing by now. He was sure that's how it worked anyway from the stories he'd heard… which meant that Remus would have more likely than not been in a bad way if they were true. The more he thought about it, the more James convinced himself to go. He carefully tiptoed out of bed and draped the cloak over himself to head to the Hospital Wing. If all of this had been an elaborate ruse, he would have to hand it to Remus for winding him up enough to sneak around the castle trying to catch him in a lie. That's all it would have been. One quick trip to prove it wrong, then he could go back to bed to prepare for a day of catching rocks while riding a broomstick.

Despite his internal pep-talk to get him on his way, the entire trip down James had to convince himself the opposite of what he feared to be true, or mainly what it could mean for them all if it were. He'd spent so long avoiding the worst case scenarios from playing out in his head that he almost didn't realise he was closing in quickly on the double doors leading into the infirmary.

He honestly couldn't believe luck. The doors were cracked, and there was a sound of movement coming from the room, and James felt his heart leap at the propect of it being empty. Plus, If there _were_ a big secret to hide, there was no way anyone would leave the evidence so easy to discover... then again, the infirmary didn't see much traffic as it were, let alone at what was now six or seven in the morning. Either way, the opportunity wasn't going to remain open forever.

 _xxx_

James took a deep breath before entering, when he saw a partition bed illuminated by the morning sun at the far end of the wing. He felt his heart hit his stomach like a quicly sinking stone. His legs moved on their own as he had a hundred thoughts coursing through his brain that he barely remembered to keep his breathing steady. It couldn't have been true… He wasn't a werewolf. Not his friend Remus. He wanted to so badly believe that what he saw was a lie, some trick, or even an addition to the elaborate joke.

James knew he wouldn't have long. Madam Pomfrey would be back any moment, and even with his cloak he knew he couldn't stay trapped in the room for too long without being missed… but he needed to know the truth for himself if anything.

After being in reaching distance and taking a deep and quiet breath through his nostrils, James slowly pulled back the white curtain to reveal an unconscious boy who had been bandaged across his forehead and most of his arms and fingertips. The scars on his face looked brighter; along with a few more gashes… _claw marks_ … and bruises. There wasn't much of his skin exposed, but from what he also saw on his hands and arms, he could use his imagination. Though telltale mop-top pushed back out of his face, there was no mistake that it was Remus lying unconscious in the bed. He'd have recognized his scars anywhere the way they indented his face and cleft his lip. He half. James was at least relieved to see that his wounds were well-dressed and attended to despite the clammy look to his skin, but just seeing his friend lying there was enough to make James start to shake and fight to hold back tears.

 _It was true._

There was only one more conclusion left to draw from what he'd heard and now seen, but it was too obvious now to deny that Remus was a werewolf. With the cloak still over him, James settled down into the chair next to Remus' bed to process it all. He couldn't even bring himself to look at him again. All of the thoughts and fears he felt walking through the wing now formed into questions.

 _How long had he been like this for?_

 _Who is responsible? There had to be someone responsible…_

 _How contagious is it, really?_

 _Were he and the others in danger for being around him?_

 _Has he ever hurt anyone?_

 _How long does he expect it to remain a secret?_

… _Why was he scared to tell his friends?_

His head kept wheeling back to the last question. It hurt him so much knowing that he would have kept something so important from the rest of them, that he stood back to his feet to storm off. Did Remus really think so little of them that he assumed they would disown him? Was he that untrusting of them that they would tell anyone else and expose him? All James could think was that for being the smartest of the bunch of them, he was certainly the most idiotic.

Just as he arrived at the double doors to the wing, James looked back at Remus' feet, which had been the only part of him visible from the slightly drawn curtain. As if on cue, Madam Pomfrey rounded the corner and entered from the other open door with a potion in hand he knew had to be for Remus…

…Who now that James had a moment to stop and really think, realised must be in an unbelievable amount of pain…

At the thought, guilt quickly replaced his hurt as the initial shock from his discovery started to wear. Did he really have room to be upset? Remus could have been dealing with this situation for his whole life for all he knew, and he was stood there getting upset that he was keeping _secrets_. As he watched Madam Pomfrey glide over to fix his partition to keep from further prying eyes, James began fitting together all of the pieces from the year before.

It all started to make much more sense now. How quiet and reserved Remus is, how dodgy he gets during what James realised now was the full moon, how scared he must have been when they announced a werewolf attack that killed their old professor… he must felt so scared… felt so lonely. It made him sick to think that he would have added to that feeling at all.

James turned on his heel with resolve, as it was clear now what he was going to do. Remus was his friend, and no friend of his was going to live his life scared of himself anymore. If it meant protecting the secret of his curse from anyone who would want to hurt him, he would do it. If it meant figuring out a way to help make his time as a werewolf more bearable, he would do it. Even though he was never the brightest with ideas or solutions, he knew that there would be some way somehow that he could help his friend in whatever way he could…

…He just knew he couldn't do it alone.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Guess who's back.

I know, I can't believe it either.

No, it's not an April Fool's joke.

Told you guys I wouldn't abandon it.

I've just finally gotten my muse again, so I'm so pleased to be back on this train. Thanks for being so patient if you're reading this and were waiting for me to upload. Even in my little hiatus I've kept getting notifications and honestly it was a big driving force in my inspiration coming back to me. So thank you again, so chapter has seriously been a long time coming so I think it's also appropriately named haha.

Anywho, reviews are welcome since I know it's been a while, so if I need brushing up, or you like the way things are going (especially that little James twist teehee), please let me know! Any feedback at all would be appreciated so long as it's constructive :)

 _\- Ash_


	5. Secrets Within Secrets

**Chapter Five**

 **Secrets Within Secrets**

"Oi! Keep it down will you?" grumbled Sirius when James walked back into the dormitory.

"Sorry." He replied. Sirius then took whatever extra covers he had to cover his face from the sun, which was now beaming into the room practically begging them to wake up and enjoy it. James shed his cloak and folded it neatly to place in his trunk, which he now made sure he opened as stealthily as possible to avoid more whining.

He looked over his shoulder at a still snoring Peter, and was thankful they were still asleep. It gave him more time to digest what he'd just discovered as well as figure out a way to get them to help with his plan without letting Remus know right away that he'd figured out his secret, all while keeping his marks decent in class and preparing for Quidditch tryouts. He took a comforting sigh in knowing that he at least got a little more ahead on his homework to soften the load. Perhaps Remus' had a method to his study habits... and now he knew why.

Still, he dwelled on his main concern despite all of this. It would have been stupid to chat about it with the lads somewhere like the Great Hall or the common room. He considered the dormitory, the room they'd spent most of their time in… but it was too unpredictable. Remus could burst in at any second while he was talking about it. Or anyone could be standing outside. James' main concern was that someone would overhear them, or worse, Remus would barge in mid-sentence and catch them. He started thinking of more open yet secluded places, but even the library or study hall were dodgy since both were the main places students specifically went to start rumours. James scratched his head while still deep in thought when Peter woke himself up snoring.

"Oh, morning James." He yawned with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "You weren't kidding about that early start." They both looked at the clock, which was still in the singular digits of the morning. James had completely forgotten about them helping him with seeker practice.

"Well the stones won't be catching themselves." He replied, taking one of his own pillows and throwing it at Sirius to wake him up as well. "Wake up, Sirius! You've got a seeker to train." Sirius groaned and threw the pillow back in reply. "Come on, it's not _that_ early." He threw back the pillow, harder this time. "We're only awake thirty minutes earlier than we would be for class. Sirius mumbled into his pillow in response to this, but the noise he made was far too muffled. "What was that?"

"I said I hate you." Sirius replied after finally lifting his face from his own pillow.

"Good. Channel those feelings into your throwing arm." Sirius finally sat up to stretch and yawn. "Did you two get my mail yesterday like I asked?"

"Mhm." Peter replied first, sounding proud to have followed orders.

"Yes, it was incredibly hard to find a broomstick shaped package." Said Sirius. "We chucked it in the broom cupboards. We thought a Comet 220 would still go work okay with a few dings here and— oof!" Another pillow soared to and connected with his face, making them all giggle before James kicked off the bed onto his feet.

"Well then, lets get dressed and ready. The sooner we're out there, the sooner we can come back."

"Wait, where's Remus?" Asked Peter, making James stomach knot up.

"Probably down in the Great Hall eating… or in the library studying. You know he's one for early starts too, so."

"He knows we were going to be doing this today right?"

"I assume so. If you ask me, he's got the right idea getting up earlier than your lazy arses."

"Whatever." Sirius grunted while hopping into his jeans. "Just leave him a note or something if he comes back up here so he knows where to find us."

An idea struck James like a bolt of lightning when Sirius said it. When he finished tying his shoes, he scribbled a short note and placed it on Remus' nightstand to see whenever he got back from the hospital.

 _xxx_

The three of them made their way from the common room to the Great Hall first. They all fixed themselves a few sandwiches to avoid a long walk back for lunch, and stuck them in Peter's bag for later. After making a decent haul, the boys exited the castle through the courtyard and made their way to the castle grounds with James leading them across the way to their destination. Most importantly it was still rather early on a Sunday morning, so there weren't any other students around, which is exactly what James was hoping for. He hadn't remembered the way exactly but he hoped they would be fine since it wasn't too far that they'd be in danger of getting lost. Something that was also important was that he was heading in the complete opposite direction of the Willow that he walked to the night before. James didn't know if he'd ever be able to look at it the same way again now that he knew what it was used for—

"You do know the Quidditch pitch is on the _other_ end of the castle, right?" Peter asked confusedly, yet still detracting James enough from his current thought. He looked over at the castle then at Peter. A second later, he took his broomstick in hand and draped it over his shoulders for his arms to rest on. It was all a part of the plan.

"Mhm, I know." He responded brightly.

"They have all of the practice equipment there, too."

"Yep."

"So… wouldn't it be better to practice there instead of… wait a second, where _are_ we going?"

"The Black Lake." James said offhandedly. However the way he said it must have been hilarious the way it made Sirius burst out into laughter. After taking a breath from being so amused, Sirius bit into an apple he took along with his to snack on before chiming in.

"'The Black Lake' he says!" He cried, mouth still slightly full. "That's brilliant. Let's hope you don't fall in the water trying to catch what we're throwing."

"Isn't there a giant squid in the lake?"

"I hope so. Could you imagine having to jump in to save him?" Sirius teased. James had never seen someone lose the colour in their face so fast, as Peter's and it was amusing enough to make him laugh along as well.

 _xxx_

The bank of the lake was made up of such perfectly sized stones they needed for practice, that James couldn't even believe himself how well it all worked out. While Sirius and Peter spent the next ten minutes or so collecting ideal 'practice snitches,' James mounted his broomstick and kicked off the ground.

James had enough experience in riding broomsticks back home that he could easily maneuver around better than most of his classmates in their year. He was at least sure of that. Plus, he loved the feeling of flying. Despite the slight discomfort of sitting on the handle, the wind in his face, even if it was a gentle breeze, was one of his favourite sensations. James carefully looped around Sirius and Peter before ascending higher and towards the lake to the point where Sirius and Peter were about the size of dolls. The two of them kept their impressive pile of stones between them as they stood just as the edge of the water as to not soak their pants, giving James thumbs up to let him know they were ready to go.

"Are you sure you can you throw this far, or do I need to get closer?" James shouted. In response, Sirius winded up and threw the first stone and it went whizzing passed James until its inevitable thunk when it hit the water. There was a moment of silence before James looked up from the ripples to see Sirius with his arms stretched out.

"What happened?" He yelled. "You're supposed to catch the rock! We didn't slave picking them out just to skip stones, Potter!" James could hear Peter's snorts and giggles from the air and felt his ears turn red.

"I thought it was a practice throw!" He replied, now gripping the broom handle tighter. "Try again!"

Sirius nudged Peter now, indicating the two were going to be taking turns. With a decent wind up from him, James was prepared to be soaring closer since he imagined Peter's throwing arm to be much worse. The stone came soaring passed again, going faster and farther than Sirius', much to everyone's surprise. Not wanting to miss this one, James leaned forwards and zoomed towards the grey stone, just barely grasping it before it's slick surface slipped between his fingers and landed in the water with another plop. It seemed that whenever the rocks fell into the lake, a bit of his confidence had sunk to the bottom with them. Catching stones seemed so much easier back home. Perhaps it was the pressure of trying to impress his friends that made him choke.

"It's a good thing we didn't have anything planned today!" Shouted Sirius before getting into the pile of rocks to get ready to toss again. "I can throw underhanded if you want!"

"Throw however you want, but I know you throw like a girl compared to Peter!" James replied, making sure to cup his hands over his mouth so that his point came across loud and clear. He could see Sirius' frown from far enough away that he was satisfied.

Even though their morning started out a little slow, eventually James went from missing most, to missing some, to missing a few. After an hour, he even managed to zip to them both throwing rocks at the same time without either of them hitting the surface. What was more, he also managed to keep himself from falling off his broomstick into the water. Even though they were still in the shallows of the lake for the most part, he didn't want to have to explain sopping wet robes to anyone he passed walking up to the common room.

After a few more hours, James finally called a timeout, much to everyone's relief. His arms were sore, so he could only imagine how the others were fairing. Even James legs felt like jelly hitting the ground. As soon as his shoes made contact with the rock, he stumbled over to the grass to sit down and enjoy a well-earned sandwich.

"Nothing better than keeping sharp on skills and natural talent." He said before plopping down and reaching into the bag for his lunch.

"Or you know… acquiring them to begin with." Sirius quipped back with his mouth still slightly full. James didn't even bother giving a rude gesture since he was more preoccupied with how satisfying the first bite of his food was.

"He got better at it after a little while." Peter piped up, also with food still in his mouth. He at least had the mannerisms to swallow before speaking again. "It got fun watching you. You'll _have_ to get seeker now."

" _Thank_ you Peter." James replied, again with a bite of food in his mouth and nudging him with his foot since his arms were occupied. "Why can't you be more like Peter, Sirius? Besides, I'd like to see you try to catch whatever you throw with _your_ terrible aim."

"You don't see me itching to join the team, do you?" Sirius shrugged.

"That's probably for the best. You couldn't pay anyone enough to pass you a quaffle."

There was a small chuckle between them, then an awkward silence.

"I keep waiting for Remus to say something smart to add to that, but I keep forgetting he's not here." Said Sirius, making James remember the terrible knot in his stomach that he'd forgotten all about since he got on his broomstick.

"Yeah…" James replied, taking another bite to calm his nerves. It was part of the reason he brought them to the lake in the first place since it was secluded enough that no one else would see or hear them. More importantly, they'd be able to see well in advance if someone was coming to join them, so there was no risk of eavesdropping or being snuck up on. He'd just been so focused on Quidditch he didn't even think of a way to tell them.

"Where is he anyway? I thought he'd have made his way out here by now."

"It's only been a couple of hours or so—"

"Where does he get off to I wonder?" Peter interrupted.

"How d'ya mean?"

"Well… he just…" He started, scratching the side of his head. It was clear he was trying to find the right way to say what he was thinking. "It just feels like he _disappears_ sometimes, you know?" James felt his heart miss a beat. Was this how Remus felt when people started to suspect? It wasn't even his secret and he could felt his fingers get twitchy from nerves.

"Huh… I guess you're right." Sirius replied while James was still in thought. "He probably just can't stand you."

"Very funny." Said Peter after giving an amused giggle contrasting with such a stoic face. "What do you think James?" He didn't know what to think. He'd only just confirmed Remus' secret a few hours ago. "James…?" Peter said once more. It was now or never. If he didn't do it now, he never would. If he didn't at least try, he'd be failing his friend.

"I know why he disappears."

 _x x x_

He simply started from the day before and gave them the full account of his discovery, and at first when he said the words; they felt more like he was just telling them about a bad dream. If anything, he felt validated in saying it out loud. It made James feel like his plan to help Remus had a shot of working even if it technically hadn't even been devised yet. It was also the first time he could ever remember speaking to them without interruption or a break.

"I mean, it makes sense when you think about it. He'd always look kind of funny on those mornings. I thought he'd just always go to the hospital wing an be puking, so I never really questioned it…" James mused. Now that he was talking about it, all of the little errant thoughts and pieces of questions started answering themselves while at the same time creating more.

"Bloody hell…" said Sirius. When James looked up he saw a blank expression on his face for the first time rather than Sirius' usual natural grin.

"I know… I couldn't really believe it either at first, so—"

"This is fantastic!"

"Wait, what?" Sirius' interruption caught James so much by surprise, that he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Think about it," Sirius started again, the grin slowly returning back to him. "One of our best mates is a werewolf! Who else can say that? The sly git plays it so calm and cool when he's got a monster living in the inside of him! 'Dunno why he even hides it to be honest. If it were _me,_ I'd want everyone to know." He pointed at his now puffed out chest. "No one would mess with me _or_ my mates when they know they can be chewed and ripped to bits." The mental image alone was enough to make James regret his lunch. Still, Sirius went on. "It definitely explains the scars on his face though. I just assumed there was some nasty fall at home or a tragic… muggle… accident? Werewolf bite is much cooler though. So, now that we know about it, there's going to be some sort of big reveal for it right?"

"B-big reveal?" Peter asked, his voice quavering from what James could only assume were nerves. Where Sirius had a look of triumph, he could tell Peter harboured fear. "No way. This is bad. This is really, really bad. If we're telling anyone it's a teacher— No… we shouldn't tell anyone. In fact, we shouldn't even be _talking_ about this! If Remus is a werewolf, that means he's dangerous. You remember what happened last spring don't you? Professor Zilar was killed by one of those things, and that was only a few months ago!" It was a sobering thought to say the least. It even wiped the smile from Sirius' face. "What if something happens and his transformations go wrong? We're closest to him, so we would probably be the first to—"

"Both of you are being idiots!" James shouted. He was angrier at himself and the regret he felt for telling them, but there wasn't any turning back from that point now. "We are _not_ using him for it." He said pointedly at Sirius. "I don't know much about werewolves, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that." James then turned to Peter, who he was honestly more disappointed in since Remus seemed to lean to him more. But he couldn't validate his fear since it would only make the bad outweigh the good. "This is Remus we're talking about. Our friend who get's upset when his hot chocolate gets too hot because he burns his tongue. Does that honestly sound like a big raving monster to you?" Peter shook his head sheepishly and looked down to avoid James' disapproving look. "There's a reason he hasn't told us yet, and now I can see why. The only reason I did was because I hoped you both would be up for helping him with me."

There was a long and sullen silence before any of them spoke again. To quell his anger and frustration, James picked at the blades of grass until the area around his feet turned bald with the dirt.

"…How are we supposed to help him?" Sirius piped up. "Is there a cure?"

"I think if there were a cure, this wouldn't be up for discussion." James replied, still in a snappy mood since the first part of his plan seemed to backfire terribly.

"Don't you have any ideas?" Peter asked.

"Nope. That's why I told _you_ two blockheads." He tossed the grass he collected at them and sat back to prop himself up on his arms. "We need to think of something… _anything_."

 _x-x-x_

Remus's eye's fluttered open from a dreamless sleep to the sun beating down on him through the hospital wing windows. He still felt woozy from the night before, but still sat up slowly. Madam Pomfrey had been busy next to him, making sure all of his tinctures and potions had been in line. She looked pleased to see him wake and gave him a smile that he would have returned had he not felt so strange.

"You did a number on yourself this go around." She said before handing him a small vial that he was used to taking from her by now for the pain.

"I do feel a little more sore than normal… I think I may have just had a tougher than usual night." He replied, still moving slowly as he exchanged more vials with her.

"Still no memories?" She asked. Remus let the question hang in the air before shaking his head. He'd been trying ever since the night his old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Zilar died to recollect his transformations, but to no avail. He only had the months in-between to try, but seeing as the incident almost landed him expelled and charged with murder, he wasn't sure most of the time if remembering would even benefit.

"S'not normal, is it." He asked as she handed him another bottle, already feeling the effects of the first as his skin began to tighten and heal instead of scar. He knocked it back quickly and winced at the taste. "Blacking out, I mean." Madam Pomfrey smiled sympathetically as she unraveled the gauze wrappings from his arms and head to reveal completely unscathed skin.

"It's not… _common."_ She said quietly while doing her last minute checks of reading his pulse and temperature to make sure he was fine to leave. " _But_ , I've been doing enough research on lycanthropy recently to know it's not permanent." She kept her tone reassuring, which in itself was enough to at least cheer him up slightly. "Now, I've got your change of clothes. I'll see you next month… provided you keep yourself in out of trouble until then?"

"'Course Madam." He laughed, messing his hair in his face before she blocked him off to get changed and head back to the common room to finish out his weekend.

 _xxx_

Remus committed to spending his trip back trying to put together any possible bits and pieces he could about the night before. He scrounged and raked his mind for any detail other than the initial transformation, but as usual it was the same. First the pain… then nothing. It was equally as frustrating as it was disheartening, especially when he knew it was clearly possible.

"Remus?" The sudden sound of his own name made him tense up and jump, especially coming from Thalia who was honestly one of the last people he hoped to run into. He'd been so wrapped up on his own head that he didn't even clock her rounding the corridor to join him on his walk up the stairs. "I feel never see you any more. Which is weird because we have Transfiguration together…"

"I— yeah. Sorry." He replied while scratching the back of his ear and looking down. He couldn't bring himself to look at her still. Having the teachers know about him was one thing, but having Thalia know made the possibility of word spreading seem so much more real to him. He half-hoped maybe she would forget about it and him, but that clearly wasn't the case. "That class has been pretty tough for me. It's hard to focus between McGonagall's pace and helping Peter…" Just as he'd been looking for an excuse to leave the main staircase to take a corridor for the long way back up, the railings unhinged themselves and the staircase they'd shared together began to move. Remus bit his tongue in frustration before she spoke up again.

"That's good. I was starting to think you've been avoiding me."

"Why would…" He started before realising there wasn't an argument to be had. This time he did look up to meet her eyes, and what he saw in the hurt staring back at him was enough to make his inside feel like they'd sunk beyond his knees. Like her usual sweet disposition in her rounded face had taken a terrible landslide. "I'm just… just…" He couldn't even think of an excuse _._ Was he that much of a coward that he couldn't at least admit it and be honest with her? He certainly hoped not, but that was how he seemed to be steering the conversation on his end.

"It's fine. It's your business in the end." She shrugged, this time looking away from him, pulling herself closer to the railings. "I don't know what you're going through, and we're not exactly great friends. So I know it's weird for you… and I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. I was just going to say I'm glad to see you've come out in one piece from last night." The guilty lumps knotted themselves even tighter in Remus' gut as she went on, knowing they'd not unravel themselves until he gave her a proper apology, or at least thanked her for caring about him while he'd been actively dodging her.

"You don't make me uncomfortable." Remus replied as the staircase came to a halt. He just felt like he needed to say _something_ to her, even if it wasn't entirely true. At that point he'd expected her to pull a James and tell him how terrible of a liar he is, but the smile she gave him that didn't quite reach her eyes hit it home for him. It'd be another thing to add to his list of apologise for.

"Third floor is my stop." Thalia piped up to break their silence. Remus did his best to ignore the irony that she was the one leaving now while he stayed back feeling awful. He followed after her to make sure he caught the next set of stairs before they moved as well.

"Right." He responded, both of them standing at the entrance of the corridor as they prepared to part. "See you later?"

"That would be nice." A slightly fuller smile reached her cheeks before she turned to disappear into the serpentine corridor.

 _xxx_

Remus couldn't believe the mountain of guilt that he carried with him all the way up to Gryffindor tower. Of course he'd known he was avoiding Thalia since the train to school, but it was easier to ignore when it wasn't being talked about. He'd never been called out for doing anything wrong. Usually it was Sirius or James being told off, even Peter has had his share of being verbally reprimanded before.

What made things worse was that Thalia wasn't even angry with him. She could have had a horrible attitude and avoided him in response, which if he was honest was the result he hoped for, but she didn't. She was just hurt and sad because of it. He should have known better than anyone else how it feels to be lonely, yet that's probably all that he was doing to her. Remus felt ashamed of himself.

When he uttered the password and entered through the portrait hole, he plastered on his tiny smile for the other Gryffindors walking in and out, trying to make his way to the boy's dormitory to see his friends. He hoped seeing them would cheer him up at least.

He expected to see them all in their usual positions, Peter unwrapping some sort of sweet, Sirius telling some joke or musing about something hilarious that he either saw or hoped would happen, and James just laying down pretending to listen if he wasn't already asleep. Instead, Remus walked into the empty dorm room feeling disappointed.

Remus plopped his knapsack onto his bed and began unpacking his clothes when he noticed something on his nightstand from the corner of his eye. Abandoning his bag, he turned to see a folded bit of parchment, and opened it to reveal what he recognized as James scratchy handwriting.

 _Hey Remus,  
_ _I know your probably studying or doing something equally as awful, but whenever your done, we're going to be by the lake helping me practice for Quidditch tryouts. You'll see us.  
_ _James._

Of course he was going to go down to see them, but that wasn't before he spent a few moments contemplating having to climb up _all_ of the staircases again. But on the other hand, he could have used a break from the full moon and his guilt trip with Thalia. Besides, it was always right after his transformations that he felt himself missing them the most. It didn't take him much more self-convincing with it still fresh in his mind, and just like that Remus swept out of Gryffindor tower as quickly as he came.

 _xxx_

"I'm just saying that after a few more practice sessions like this, I'll be ready to show them how it's done." Said James just as Remus made it over the last hill to join them by the lake. The three of them were all still crouched on the ground building up what seemed to be a large pile of smooth stones. Sirius was the first of them to stand, stretching out his arms before responding.

"At this rate few more practice sessions like this and I think Peter and I would have enough arm-strength to make beaters." He laughed and nudged Peter, who stood up shortly after him. James rolled his eyes until they met with Remus', then his face crinkled into his usual cheeky smile. It caught him a little bit by surprise. The last time James was that excited to see him was when they met again in Diagon Alley after their time home for the summer.

"Ah, well look who's finally decided to join us!" He exclaimed, hopping to his feet as well. The others turned their heads and smiled to greet him as he walked up between them.

"Sorry I'm late." Remus shrugged, looking down at the pile of rocks and prodding it with his foot. "I haven't missed out yet, have I?"

"'Course not." James assured before finally mounting his broom and kicking off of the ground to hover. "Perfect timing actually. I think both Sirius and Peter have collected enough stones to _actually_ make the next round be challenging for me. None hitting the water before it hits my hands this time, lads!" He held up his hands which Remus could see now were clearly tinged red from what must have been hundred of rocks hitting them.

"He's said that a few times now, so don't set your expectations too high." Muttered Sirius as he lightly bumped Remus with his elbow.

"I heard that!"

"Maybe having a third arm will keep him on his toes…" Remus mused, mainly talking to Peter who must not have heard him since he didn't have much of a response. Sirius clapped him on the shoulder hard to bring his attention back to him before going on about where to throw to try and jolt James enough to get him to fall in.

"It hasn't happened yet, but we're hoping with you, we can fuddle him enough that he'll _actually_ fall in." Remus gave Sirius a concerned look. "It's water so he's fine, but think about it. That would keep me laughing for weeks—"

"If you ladies are done swapping recipes, I'm ready to get started!" James yelled from his position in the sky. He leaned forward on his broomstick as Remus wound up his arm and sent the stone flying through the air.


	6. The Truth in Tales

**Chapter Six**

 **The Truth in Tales**

Watching Quidditch tryouts was nothing like watching that actual game. It was mainly just friends of the people trying to get on the team and others looking to scope out their future competition, but the stands were still nowhere near as packed. It's been sprinkling and on the cusp of autumn, so the weather didn't exactly draw a crowd either. Naturally, Remus sat with Sirius and Peter, with Sirius in the middle bouncing his knees from the brisk air. They came obviously in support of James, but it was also the first taste of Quidditch they were getting, and Remus was going to make it a point to make it out to more games this year, especially if James was going to be playing.

The captain running it all seemed almost militaristic as he cut them all into squads, making sure that each of them at least were grouped by skill and experience. His organization reminded him a lot of professor McGonagall, who was also watching from her own seat on the other side of the pitch. Luckily it was easy to pick out James since of all of the seeker hopefuls, he was the smallest. From all their free time being used for practices, Remus thought that he'd have a very good chance.

Sirius seemed the most anxious of the three of them sitting at the tryouts since every time any play was run, he had his own criticism to give. Every time a chaser would drop the quaffle it was "unbelievable." Whenever a beater missed a swing at a bludger it was "embarrassing," and if a keeper was scored against they were a "disgrace." It got to the point where listening to him was just as amusing as watching them all fly around frantically on broomsticks.

The seekers were the hardest to watch since it was difficult to see if they were catching the practice snitches without a set of binoculars. James would take dives and scoop back up in the air, but there wasn't any sort of indication if he'd missed it or not since he looked so concentrated. He imagined with the sprinkling weather turning into more of a shower that it was doing more to harm than help. Remus stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and bore through with the hopes that an evening spent by the common room fire no matter what the outcome would be well worth it.

More and more people started filing out of the stadium as the rain persisted, even some of the ones trying out knew it was getting too harsh and called it a day. Despite this, James was still there. He must have been the youngest on the field at that point, so Remus was certain they would have had to let him on just based off guts alone.

"D'ya think he's caught anything?" Sirius asked, wiping his damp curls out of his face. Funnily enough, the water made his hair look much more tame.

"I can't tell. I assume so since he's stuck around so long?" Remus shrugged in response.

"I hope he's not staying out here because he thinks he's no doing well."

"Would he do that?"

"Oh yeah."

"What do you think Peter?" Remus asked, turning to his other friend who had been clever enough to cover his head with the day's issue of the Daily Prophet. Peter simply mumbled in response, looking incredibly interested in the happenings on the field. Despite the rain coming down, the paper still looked dry with the beads of rain rolling off the front page similarly to a raincoat. It was the image on the front page that caught his eye as he could see a familiar shawled women being escorted over the fold Peter made onto the other side where Remus couldn't see. "Peter—"

A loud whistle sounded before he could have gotten a response, and the captain announced the end of tryouts in a voice that echoed across the stands.

"I've seen all I need to today!" He roared. I'll post the results on the bulletin board by the end of the day tomorrow. Now get out of here and get dry! I don't want those selected to be sick before the first match." Like that, the rest of the people on their broomsticks met the ground in a collective _squish_ and hurried towards the stands for shelter as the rain began beating down harder.

.

Unfortunately Remus wasn't the only one with the idea of sitting by the fireplace after a rainy day, so him and the others settled for the dormitory heater. After changing into warm and dry clothes, they all agreed on cranking it up as high as possible, especially for James who bundled up immediately in his blankets the first chance he got.

"How do you think you did?" Peter started as he was wringing out his socks onto a towel.

"Yeah, we could—" Remus began to add on before being cut off by Peter who'd apparently not finished hi thought. Since it'd been along with what Remus was going to say anyway, he was more interested in the answer.

"We could see you moving but we couldn't really tell what was going on with the rain and everything."

"Well, I missed some of them. It was harder than I thought it would be in the rain." James recounted, pushing up his glasses with a tilt of disappointment in his voice.

"Well you can't have been the only one who's missed some." Remus reassured.

"Maybe. I wasn't really paying attention to anyone else…"

"That's good mate!" said Sirius "Got to keep your eye on the prize."

"It was mainly because they were a lot better, though…" After letting them hang on a somber note, James broke the awkwardness after he pulled an arm from his blanket cocoon to point at the floor. "Oi Remus, it's your girlfriend." Naturally, Sirius and Peter perked up along with Remus as the three of them scrambled from their comfortable positions to see what James was pointing at. On the ground was the copy of the Daily Prophet Peter brought with him to the pitch earlier. Sirius was the first to grab it as he brushed off what beads of water were left into the heater, making it steam with an almost satisfied hissing sound.

"Lemme see that—" Said Peter as he reached over, prompting Sirius to hold it just out of reach.

"We weren't so keen on sharing when it was keeping you dry in the stands, were we?" With a huff, Peter sat back in his bed and crossed his arms. I'm glad the water-proof charm's not worn off on the pictures yet, because she's a beaut'." Sirius snickered as he tossed the paper to Remus. "Who is she and why haven't you brought her around to meet us yet?"

"Some loony bird at Diagon Alley I saw talking to him about something or other before she got pulled out. Made a scene and everything with him in the middle…" James explained as Remus' eyes frantically scanned the paper until he finally saw the snippet of the picture of the shawled woman being walked out of her shop by what he assumed were Officers from the Ministry of Magic. He tried reading the captions to get her name, but the ink had run through and bled for the words first. "What was she raving about again? Some sort of…?"

"Hollow." Remus responded adsently, eyes still skimming in case there'd been any sort of indication of her identity anywhere else on the page. Of course, that wasn't all she mentioned to him that day, but he wasn't going to get into that with his friends now. They wouldn't have even begun to understand if he did anyway. Once he realised it was a lost cause, he leaned over to hand the paper to Peter next who'd been sat on his bed impatiently waiting for his turn.

"That's right. What was she saying about it?" James asked, while Remus shrugged in reply.

"Something about it being in danger."

"The _Hollow_?" Peter asked, holding the paper and squinting at the image. "Oh- I know who this is." This made Remus perk up immediately. He didn't want to sound to anxious in knowing but he hoped Peter would continue. "She owns the divination shop. Well, the family does."

"Eh, who cares." Said Sirius, who was now spitting into the heater from his bed to make more hissing sounds. _I do._ Thought Remus. Unfortunately by that point, Peter wasn't going to be explaining anything further. After that the conversation steered back to Quidditch, then school, then wizard family nuances that Remus didn't understand yet, then Quidditch again, all looping in whichever order until eventually Remus drifted off to sleep between thoughts of quaffles and gnomes which gave fuel for interesting dreams.

 _x x x_

"The ability to completely immobilize an object or person will prove to be one of the most useful spells you will use in your lives as witches and wizards." The Charms class started with Professor Flitwick carrying a cage only slightly smaller than himself from the back of the classroom and setting it on his desk for the class to see. It wasn't clear until after he stepped away, but the large wings of a blue butterfly were visible in the cage. With a flick of his wand, the cage door opened and the butterfly flew out. Another swish and it was enlarged to the size of their heads, fluttering about the classroom. "The incantation is just so, _Immobulus."_

There was a white flash and the butterfly stayed suspended in the air unmoving. Remus recognized the spell right away as what Madam Pomfrey used to stop the Whomping Willow from attacking them right away whenever they used it for the full moon. After a few moments, a dozen more cages flew from a corner of the room to one per desk, all filled with their own "You will split up into pairs and practice freezing your partners objects they animate using the charms we practiced in last weeks lesson. Both will be on the exam so be sure to take turns." Almost immediately the classroom began to chatter as everyone already began talking with their partners or looking across the room. "I've already assigned your partners—" the collective groan interrupted him. "Ooh, no moaning. Now pair up! I'll be observing around the classroom to make sure you're practicing."

.

The rotating chalkboard on the other side of the classroom flipped to reveal all of their names in pairs, most of them crossing houses. Remus originally looked for his name first to see if he was matched up with one of his friends, but before he knew it, he watched his friends walk off to be paired with each other. He sank as he looked back to the board since his options were becoming much less desirable, especially sharing the class with the Slytherins—

"It's almost like fate, isn't it?" Said Blake as he took his place in Peter's empty seat, effectively startling Remus. Sure enough, the names Blake Sparrow and Remus Lupin were written next to each other near the bottom of the list.

"I guess it is." He replied. Blake settled in and flicked a rung of the cage to make the butterfly flutter its wings.

"Sorry I'm not your first choice."

"Oh, n-no it's not—"

"Relax. I wouldn't be my first choice either." He laughed. "Least I'm not Avery though; I know you two don't like each other much. Between you and me, _I_ think he's a prat too." They both looked over his shoulder to Sterling who'd been partnered up with Marlene, both of them struggling to get their butterflies to behave the way they wanted. It was a good point… the only other option would have been Severus Snape, and Remus didn't know if he'd be able to handle the discomfort of having to interact with him. "I'll get it to move first. I need to get better at the moving spell before the new one."

Though he would never admit it out loud, having Blake as a partner was much easier and more productive than Peter. Blake wasn't as self-conscious in casting, and by the time the professor walked by to observe them, they had their butterfly stopping and going again with great results. He always had a laugh and fun when partnered up with his friend, but it was a relief to be ahead of the curve with someone else if he was honest.

"Have you talked to Thalia lately?" Blake asked as soon as professor Flitwick tottered off. The sudden frankness of the question caught Remus off guard that he missed the charm when trying to practice again.

"Not… really." He answered. Save for their last conversation, he hadn't talked to her much at all besides when he met Blake officially on the train. Of course it'd been on purpose but since the massive guilt trip he put himself through he had every intention on changing that.

"She thinks you hate her, you know." The words were like sharp knives. Of course he knew, but hearing it didn't help.

"Well, I don't." Remus said bluntly.

"Great. You saved me the trouble of asking you." The guilty knots began twisting themselves into his stomach again as Remus felt the need to explain himself.

"It's just… complicated."

"I'm sure it is." Blake replied, flicking his wand again to the butterfly to allow its wings to flutter again. "It's also your business. Me and her are close, so I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem. Because then _we_ would have a problem. And I like you so far, you know?"

"Right." Remus replied. He wasn't sure how to take Blake's threat since he didn't sound intimidating. Of course, that's what made it _more_ unsettling if anything else. Rather than speak again, Remus chose to add to an awkward silence and proceeded to flick his wanted to freeze the butterfly in air again.

"Look, clearly its' bothering you too, so just go talk to her about it. She's been acting sort of funny lately anyway, so I'm sure you can't make things any worse."

"Funny how?"

"Just funny." He shrugged. The bell rang and the rest of the students broke off from their groups to collect their things to leave.

"Remember to practice!" Squeaked the professor as they all began to file out. "A charm is only as good as the wizard clever enough to use it!"

.

Remus could barely keep up with the others, as the scramble back to the Gryffindor common room was more intense than usual since the Quidditch results were to be up by that point. The four of them didn't care how silly they looked traversing all of the stairs in their hurry, and what started as a race to the common room to see the roster ended up being a race to be the first one there.

As they stumbled in, there was already a small group bunched around the bulletin board giving a mixture of elated and disappointed noises, all being directed of a stamped piece of parchment hanging alone on the wall. Finally, when the group of them dissipated, James had enough room to squeeze through to get a better look while Remus hung back with Sirius and Peter to celebrate with him… or hang as moral support.

"Think he's got it?" Remus whispered to Peter, who'd seemed so nervous in answering, he practically ignored Remus completely.

"No telling. I mean, it's not completely unheard of, second years making the team." Sirius answered in a hushed tone instead. "I think he's got a decent shot. Even though he was mainly going for seeker, he could hold himself on a broom better than some of the others out there—"

James turned around slowly with him face paler than Remus had ever seen. There wasn't an emotion on his face to indicate whether what he read was good new or bad.

"Well?" Said Remus anxiously.

"You made it right?" Peter asked immediately after.

"I…" James started with a cracked voice. He cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses. "I'm a Chaser—"

"That's excellent!" Peter squeaked, interrupting him.

"…alternate." He finished.

They all said 'Oh' in unison after that. Remus messed the back of his hair as he wasn't quite sure what to say. It was exciting news, but they all knew it wasn't what James wanted, so it only came off as bittersweet at best. Still, he didn't want to leave them all in silence.

"At least you've made the team. It's a great step—"

"Barely— oof." Sirius mumbled, earning a hard elbow in the ribs from Remus not a moment too soon.

"I might as well have been cut." James replied, turning to head towards the boys dormitory with them in tow. "An alternate? Chaser? I'm no good with the quaffle. It's all lumpy and big and... and _boring._ "

"Look mate, it's not the end of the world. You've got one foot in the team, right?" Said Sirius, much to Remus' relief since it'd been the first encouraging thing to come from his mouth towards James on the matter. "Besides, they'll need someone well rounded like you." Peter nodded along in agreement as the four of them settled into their room and assumed their respective bed areas to wind down and change.

"Plus, didn't Lily say that they groom the teammates to be on it?" Remus chimed in. He looked at the others for back up but only got an annoyed look from James.

"Lily Evans? What would she know, she only discovered the sport last year. _So did I._ Remus thought, but he knew it better to hold his tongue since James was probably feeling particularly touchy.

"All I'm saying is that they can coach you this time so you'll _have_ to make it next season. Not as an alternate, but someone who starts. The sooner you get the practice in with the team, the better off you'll be anyway, right?"

"I _guess._ " James said as he let out an exasperated sigh and flopped down on his mattress. "I guess I'll just hope for one of the new chasers to break an arm so I'll get a chance to play in a match."

The silence hung between all of them as they finished getting changed. No one wanted to be the one to change the subject, yet none of them wanted to continue talking on about it since the wound was still fresh. None of that seemed to stop Sirius from chiming in moments later after tossing his socks into a pile of his clothes beside his bed.

"Could you imagine though?" They all turned toward him, waiting for him to finish. "I just keep thinking about tripping a chaser down the staircases. It's a long way down, I think they'd break an arm."

"Or both." Said Peter.

"Or everything else since they'd be falling forever from the top floor." Said Remus.

"On ever changing staircases…" said James.

There was another brief silence before the four of them burst into laughter at the silliness of it all.

 _x-x-x_

Remus sat up after waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of a flushing toilet from their bathroom. He sat up and rubbed his eyes and yawned to the sudden sound of Peter swinging the door open in the middle of pulling up his pants.

"Oh." He said in a hushed voice, immediately moving his hand from his bottoms. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long enough to have heard anything embarrassing if that's what you're worried about." Remus replied quietly, giggling softly. Ignoring this, Peter tiptoed back to his bed silently enough that the only noise to be heard were James and Sirius snores. While he tucked himself in, Remus eyes adjusted to Peter's nightstand to see the Daily Prophet snippet with the crazy shop lady still folded neatly to the side. "Peter?"

"…Y-yeah?"

"Can you tell me about that family?" Remus asked, feeling silly only after he asked out loud. His question clearly sounded out of place, but he didn't know when he'd get another opportunity.

"What about them?"

"You said the other night that they own that shop right? She was talking to me before that photo was taken."

"Oh yeah. About the Hollow, right?" Peter said mid-yawn.

"Right."

"Well, I can't tell you much about the family. All I know is that they're a bunch of cracked nuts. If she brought up the same Hollow I'm thinking, it's just a fairy tale."

"How does it go?"

"We really should be going to bed."

"Yeah you're right." Remus sighed, laying back down and pulling the covers over himself. "I just feel like now that it's on my mind, I'm going to stay up all night thinking about it. Hopefully I won't be too tired to focus for us in Transfiguration tomorrow."

"Alright, alright…Bedtime story it is, then." said, Peter, turning towards him so that they could still keep their voices down while Remus fought the urge to smile smugly. "My nan used to tell it to scare me from Dark Magic." The urge disappeared rather quickly after that. Despite having an entire class in defense of it, Remus hadn't ever had any sort of real knowledge or brush of Dark Magic. "The story says the Hollow is a sort of wishing well of the stuff… Or was it a fountain… No, you know, I think it was a well—"

"Right, go on."

"Dark Magic is obviously bad news, but it's _really_ powerful, and it can do a _lot._ It was something a lot of witches and wizards searched for, you know, to solve their problems an easier way. It was supposed to cure any ailment, make you super powerful, and give you all of the knowledge of magic. Stuff like that."

"Knowledge of magic? Why not just study it?" Remus asked, being completely aware of how much like him it was to predictably ask a question like that. Peter didn't seem to mind his ignorance, which he'd always been especially grateful for, especially then.

"If you already had the knowledge, you wouldn't need to study. Instead of incantations and waving wands, you could do anything… it's almost godlike." The way Peter mused this thought made it clear that this was obviously a part of the story he fantacised about. "When she tod me the story, my nan would always add in that something that powerful could muggle know magic too."

This caught Remus' interest. He wondered if Dark Magic could really do something like that, then he thought of how great it would be if it were true. Then he thought of his mother. It had him thinking that perhaps dark magic was like him… not inherently _bad,_ but just misunderstood… that if it were kept safe and unable to do harm, it could be normal.

"I thought you said you were told the story to scare you? Right now you're not sound so bad."

"That's the point." Peter replied, with a slightly raised voice. He brought it down after that to continue as to not wake the others. "All of the things it can do had all of these people searching for it. And apparently, only a few ever came back after _not_ finding it… the rest of them…"

"I'm assuming died trying?"

"That or worse…" Peter's voice started to get quieter now. "They'd come back all twisted in the head, all loony and deranged from what they found or what the saw. Some of them were put to death from spewing… _really_ unsettling things the Hollow showed them. Some of them just went and offed themselves. Some took their families— even their _villages_ with them. They say it's part of the reason there are more muggles than wizards around, you know?"

"Oh…"

"Dark Magic does that sort of thing to you, though. The more a wizard uses it… it changes them. In some cases, you start actually _looking_ like a monster." Remus felt his heart sink down through him. Is that what a werewolf was, just a creature of dark magic? He swallowed hard at the thought. "I think stories like that are why Dark Magic is so taboo. Some people still learn about it and collect dark objects of course. I don't think anyone's ever going to stop that. But it makes you crazy. See things, I think. Things that change the kind of person you are, you know?" The both laid there in silence for a bit, leaving Remus to regret asking to hear any of it. "I'm scared of it, to be honest. Things like the Hollow."

"I thought it was just a fairy tale?" Remus replied.

"Even fairy tales have truth to them. Especially in our world." Peter said in a somewhat reassuring tone, even though it had the opposite effect on Remus. "Are- aren't there things you're scared of, Remus?"

There was plenty, of course. The question wasn't as jarring at such a late hour in the night, but now the most prominent answer in his mind was himself. He was still blacking out in his transformations, and if the other side of him really _was_ something dark, the only thing stopping him was an enchanted run-down shack. No matter how many horrors filtered through his mind in that moment, they all came back to one central theme of what he was truly afraid of.

"I'm… really scared of being alone." He confessed. Remus never said it out loud before, and he was thankful for the night lighting in the room that obscured the colour in his face so that Peter couldn't see that shade of red he could feel himself turning. He knew he didn't have a reason to feel embarrassed. Peter was his first, if not his best friend. However, the crushing irony that he was scared of being alone while at the same time not wanting to be honest with him, or James and Sirius for that matter, only served to make him feel worse.

"It's a good thing you've got us then." Peter said, breaking the silence and reeling him in from his own spiraling thoughts. Remus turned his head back towards Peter, who now had his eyes closed. "You know, so you're not alone."

"Yeah." Remus replied feeling calmed with Peter's reassurance. He wasn't sure if Peter even meant to be comforting, but it certainly kept him from panicking too much from his own thoughts. Even though it ultimately wouldn't do much to ease him for his situation, it would at least be enough for the night.

"Nothing for me to be scared of…" Peter yawned, indicating that it was clearly time for the both of them to go back to sleep.


	7. Winter Memories

**Chapter Seven**

 **Winter Memories**

Peter's story had Remus take their Defense Against the Dark Arts classes more seriously. Even without growing up around magic, there was always a lesson to be learned even in the most outlandish fairytales. Of course since he'd been working harder, the Christmas holiday coming around the corner had been the light at the end of the tunnel since Quidditch match outings were few and far between since James rarely played. At least whenever they came around, on the off chance that one of the chasers was too sick or bogged down to play, it gave them all a chance to see Alice Fortescue to get their faces painted again. He learned after their most recent chat that she was from Wales as well.

Remus was also especially looking forward to the winter holiday since he got to go home to visit his parents. He enjoyed his time back at school and with his friends, but no matter how pretty the castle looked in a sheet of snow, his homesickness was starting to take its toll again.

The others were planning on going home as well to visit their families of course, but since they missed the deadline for the earlier train, Remus would be making the trip on his own. He was hurt at first, but after a week or so of telling them it was fine and that it didn't bother him, it eventually started becoming true. It wasn't the end of the world after all. Besides, the excitement of going home outweighed his slight annoyance with them.

.

The train of course was much less crowded than at the beginning and end of the year rush. He quite liked it, since now the rare opportunity of having a car to himself was real, especially since he'd spent the whole night before packing and was in desperate need of a nap. He preferred the back. Somewhere he could sit in the corner and throw a blanket over himself and—

"Hey Remus" Said Lily from one of the open windows on the door of her own car. The first think he noticed was that she just so happened to be alone, which usually was a rare sight in itself since either Severus or Marlene was with her at all times.

"Hi Lily." He said while talking into the window. "I didn't know you were on your way home too?"

"Oh of course. I miss my parents terribly… and my sister." She shrugged and nodded her head towards one of the seats across from her. "Have a seat, stay awhile. I feel like we haven't gotten a chance to really chat yet and we're almost halfway through the year."

"We've talked in classes." He replied as he slid the door open and took his seat on the other side of where her things were, since it was clear he didn't need to be asked twice.

"About spells and potions and magic, but not really talked to each other."

"I guess I have had my nose buried in the textbooks lately…" He said, scratching and messing the back of his hair.

"I don't blame you. Sometime I feel like those of use who haven't grown up around this stuff have to work twice as hard." It was a harsh truth. Of course it'd been easier for him since he did have a magical parent, but it was hard to ignore the underlying stigma of the muggleborns and their adeptness with magic. Thankfully people like Lily were around to tip the scales. "I think you told me before, but your mother's non-magical, isn't she?"

"Mhm. My dad's the wizard."

"Where's she from, again? I think you told me that once too."

"Wales. She met my dad near Cardiff, and they stayed in the country ever since…" Said Remus, now relaxing into himself now that he'd been more comfortable in conversation. It was a long trip, but he wasn't complaining if it meant he got to spend it with her.

They certainly had their catch-up conversation like she asked for. For the length of the trip they talked about everything. Their likes and dislikes, their lives growing up, their families. Lily was one of the easiest people to talk to. Usually he was used to listening to conversation rather than partaking in it, but the change in pace was especially nice. Remus truthfully would have been content if she'd been the only one to speak the entire time… and at that realization, there was no denying his crush on her.

It was hard not to stare with the way she'd tuck her hair behind her ear or how her nose would crinkle when she giggled, Remus just hoped he looked away quick enough before she could catch him. It seemed that messing his hair in front of his face proved useful in another way than hiding his scars.

"Can I ask you something?" She said, kicking a foot up next to Remus on the seat.

"'Course."

"You said it was an accident that happened to you, didn't you?" Whatever light and airy feeling he felt being around her came to a screeching halt at her question.

"Yeah." Anticipating her next question, he decided to carry on with the answer rather than wait for her to ask. He obviously couldn't tell her the truth… so like his friends; she'd need to be told the lie. "It was just a really awful animal attack when I was younger. I was out of my parents sight only for a little while and then…" He gestured to his face, and she nodded in response. He didn't need to make up a large elaborate lie. The more he did that, the more he'd have to keep up with it.

.

As if on cue, the train came to a halt at Kings Cross station on Platform nine and three quarters. Remus helped Lily with her trunk before his own, as they both waited for their families. The platform wasn't nearly as bustling and loud in the winter as it was at the beginning and end of the school years, but the lights and decorations still made it lively. Amidst all of the twinkling and floating lights and the crisp cool air, Lily shivered and took a step closer to him, making him tense up.

Only a moment before he planned on returning the gesture to move closer to her still, when a family emerged from the barrier of the platform escorted by one of the train attendants. It was a family of three, a man, wife, and their daughter who even though looked slightly older, bore a striking resemblance to Lily though instead of red, was long chestnut hair falling over her shoulders.

"That will be my parents and sister." Said Lily, clearly trying to contain her excitement by bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. She moved from her spot next to him to push along the trolley with her trunk. "Write this holiday, won't you?"

"Of course." He replied before she wrapped her arms around his middle for a hug goodbye. "See you later." He said, awkwardly waving at Lily's family who were obviously too preoccupied with her to return the action. Though it did not go unnoticed since her sister who seemed less than impressed with Remus squinted hard at him before Remus was greeted and distracted by his hair being horribly messed from behind by his father.

He immediately turned and lit up as Lyall embraced and greeted him, soon followed by his mother who did the same. He didn't realise how much he missed them until the familiar scent of home lingering on them hit him like the train he'd arrived on.

"You've sprouted!" said Hope as she pulled away and stepped back to look at him. Her smile was as bright as ever, even giving him a once over since now that they seemed to be the same height. "Do your trousers still fit you?" They both looked down to his socks, which now that she pointed it out, he noticed they had been showing much more from the hem to his shoes

"Good, now you can ask him to reach for higher things on the cabinets." Said Lyall, as he moved Remus trunk to a trolley in one swoop. "I can tell you're having a good time in school because you've barely written since you got there."

"I've written some." He whined, knowing he'd never hear the end of it.

.

There was something about flopping into his own bed at home in Caerphilly that was the most satisfying thing. Remus hadn't even unpacked his things yet and he was already ready to relax and have a perfect holiday that consisted mostly of his mother's cooking and his father's terrible sense of humour. He enjoyed his time in school, but even learning magic could do with its own breaks.

The only damper to look forward to was the full moon before Christmas. Still, he an his father had it down pat enough that by the time it came and went, he was ready to be brought home the afternoon after all fixed up. Of course, his father was no healer like Madam Pomfrey, but he could certainly get the job done even if it took a bit longer.

The pair of them popped into the snowy garden just as twilight covered the village. Still feeling weak from the full moon, and now slightly sick from being transported, it took everything Remus had to stay on both feet.

"Why couldn't we have teleported _inside_ of our house?" He asked, trying not to let the slight nausea get the best of him.

"It's called apparition." Said Lyall. "That's what we have doors for. If wizards could apparate anywhere, there wouldn't be much need, would there?"

"But it's cold."

"It's cold he says..." Lyall parroted before opening the door to see Hope beaming at the both of them from the kitchen. She sauntered on over blowing completely passed his father and straight to Remus to dote on him. Lyall scoffed and walked over to the counter to pick at the almost ready dinner.

"How was it?" She asked fixing his hair around his face where his skin was still tender from a bruise.

"Piece of cake." He smiled. He never wanted to let his mother worry about him. Especially since she's never actually seen him as a werewolf before, it made it easier.

"Good. Just in time too, I've already wrapped your present." She nodded to their tree, which his mother expertly set up while he'd been away.

"Anything for me?" Lyall asked with a slightly full mouth. "Love?" He asked since she didn't answer right away.

.

The humming woke him again. No matter how many times he put the pillows and sheets over his ears, it would cut through like a whisper, calling him to open the book. By that time, he'd long accepted that bringing the book into the home was not one of his better ideas. He knew he couldn't open it again… there was nothing new it would show him. Unless of course what professor Zilar told him about it constantly changing and evolving were correct…

He sat up quickly before he could convince himself any more and kicked his feet over the bed to leave his room, carefully overstepping the creaky floorboard and out of his room to sneak his father's office down the hall. Perhaps there was something there that would help. If there was anything Remus learned, it was that magical problems in kind seemed to have magical solutions. If there _was_ a magical solution, it was only going to be in one place.

Remus turned the knob and silently entered his father's office, which still held it's playful charm even in the dead of night. He wasn't sure what he was even looking for. Possibly earplugs that could diffuse noise until he could figure out where to hide the book next… It seemed silly thinking about, but he certainly wasn't in any position to rule it out. Not having proper lighting was an issue as well since the only source was a ghostly glow coming from the same basin he remembered over the summer. He looked around at the unlit oil lights and immediately decided against tryout one of his ignition spells so that he didn't burn the house down by accident. Instead, he walked over to the basin.

He'd known better than to tinker with anything in his father's office, but the object had piqued his curiosity before. Besides, it was late at night. Remus was sure his father would understand that there wasn't any harm in giving it a once over, especially if it had to do with learning more about their world. Once he was satisfied with convincing himself and freeing himself from the guilt of snooping, he thought of Sirius.

As he approached the liquid swirled on its own without him needing to stir, not looking particularly special as it did before when he first encountered it over the summer. The transparent water reflected the ornate design beneath that Remus traced with his eyes when he noticed the liquid turn murky and white. Small black dots started pooling like ink blots being dropped in by an invisible well and created a scene in the water as clear as if he were looking through a window. He gently grabbed the rim of the basin tighter and peered closer to get a better look when he felt himself begin to fall forward.

.

Remus felt the butterflies tornado around his stomach as his feet lifted from the ground, sending him diving towards the room. Despite his speed of falling, Remus still landed light as a feather on his feet, making him experience an odd sensation of dizziness as the room kicked into focus. He wasn't quite sure what happened or where he was, but the current and most clear thing in his mind now though was that he probably shouldn't have touched his father's things.

He looked around first to see if there was an escape as other aspects of the room came into focus. It was a master bedroom, obviously in the middle of the night. The only light came from the moon peeking and filtering through the curtains, giving the room a blue tint as the rest of the bedroom came into focus. The bed in the middle made him jump as he noticed there was someone laying there— two people rather.

The sound of the door opening slightly and shutting made him jump, and was enough to wake one of the people as they stirred awake to sit up.

"Did you hear something?" Said his mother's voice, as it was clear now whose room he was in. She looked ahead and around the room and directly at Remus, who was now standing dead still waiting for her to tell him off for looming around. Instead she looked right through him as if he weren't even there.

"It's just the draft, love." Lyall grumbled next to her. Remus could feel as awful turn in his stomach as he watched his mother settle back in to sleep. It was clear now whose room he was in, though it hadn't been familiar. He walked towards the bedroom door, but as soon as he went to turn the handle to open it, it was stuck in place despite being completely unlocked. When he tried again the door shifted in shape and colour as if some dropped an inkblot into a glass to obscure the picture. He tried the door again with the same result, pulling on it with all of his strength with nothing to show for it but a stronger haze.

Then there was a sound. A terrible and awful sound that pierced his ears and made his parents jolt out of bed immediately. It was the sound of a scream. Lyall kicked his feet over the bed first and grabbed his wand from the nightstand, quickly trailed behind Hope. Both of them passed through Remus as if he were a ghost and the door opened to their touch.

His parents walked through him as if he were a ghost, leaving a cool tingling sensation in their wake. He mimicked their urgency in following them to he room as he prepared himself for the worst. He knew after all that the scream was his own, and as the events began unfurling themselves, he was dreadfully aware of what night he was seeing.

"Impedimenta!" Yelled his father after he burst through the door, allowing that as well as another onslaught of spells fire from the tip of his wand at what looked like a scraggly and grotesquely hunched werewolf. Some of the spells reflected, some made contact. There were only a few that seemed strong enough to annoy the werewolf Fenrir Greyback enough to pull away from the tiny and frail body of a young Remus who was dropped on his own bed, causing a dark pool of blood to saturate his sheets.

The next scream from his mother as the shock hit her was what came next. Remus watched on helplessly as her wailing caused Greyback begin to round onto his mother next, and Lyall proceeded to fire a much more aggressive sequence of spells to make him recoil and eventually falter. As the werewolf stumbled, golden ropes of light spewed from Lyall's wand as he attempted to entangle him, but he was too late as the werewolf leapt out of the already open window into the night and out of reach.

.

Hope had already been tending to the younger Remus on the bed, who'd been bleeding so profusely now that as the present Remus looked on, he began to get sick and faint from the sight. His face was torn to shreds. Much more than the two scars as the evidence as there were additional punctures and gashes and what Remus thought was an abnormal amount of blood coming from a child his size.

He needed to look away. Focus on something else before he passed out on the floor, which he imagined wouldn't be ideal in the environment he was currently in. He searched for his father who had since left the room... looked at the window where Greyback escaped, the toys that littered the floor, the mark of deflected spells burnt black into the walls and floors, all to the background noise of his mothers worried sobs calling his name.

There was a break in her crying as he spotted motion from the corner of his eye. When he focused back to his mother, the body she'd been cradling began to convulse and jerk. His small eyes opened wide and hungry, and his arms stretched out to reveal sharper claws where there used to be fingernails. The present Remus shuddered as his witnessed his first transformation. Hope had no time to react before his hands dragged down her forearms as his mouth began to elongate, revealing the enlarged teeth.

She didn't scream. She barely reacted at all as Remus assumed the distress had completely taken over by that point since she still held on to him. The startling noise of the bedroom door swinging open again made Remus jump as his father walked through him to help.

"Hope, let go of him!" He shouted as he frantically pulled her away from him before the younger Remus had a chance to bite her. "Stand behind me." He said, drawing his wand out again hesitantly before hitting the younger Remus with a spell that bound him with what this time seemed to be invisible ropes. Apparently younger werewolves are much more susceptible to spells.

The present Remus watch as Lyall tended to the younger version of himself, pouring a vial of silver then a vial of clear liquid into a cloth that he pressed and wrapped around the younger Remus' face and head. Lyall took this moment to check his elongated limbs as well, the horror on his face confirming the realisation of what happened to his son. The present Remus, in shock himself, stood motionless as he took in what he'd just witnessed… the unending nightmare that was that night he'd been changed. His head was spinning. He needed time to process. He needed to know what was going on.

He needed to leave… but he couldn't.

Hope still sat on the floor looking at her cut arms when Lyall turned around to help her next. He had no spare cloths, but instead rubbed some of the clear liquid over her cut arms. Through the smeared blood obscured most of what could be seen; from where he was standing Remus could still see the wounds heal quickly into faint scars. The same scars that Remus always though we're from the thorns of her rose garden.

"Hope...?" Said his father, having to repeat her name a few times to finally get her attention. "We need to clean up. Do you hear me?" She nodded, tears still soaking her cheeks. "I will take care of this room. Go to the bathroom and I'll meet you there with a change of clothes."

His voice held an urgent and worried quiver that Remus had never heard in his father before. Without much response, his mother stood to her feet and left the room. He turned his head back to the scene, and the still transformed and younger version of himself on he ground lying motionless etched itself into his mind before the image shifted and blurred to rearrange into the bedroom again from what he assumed was the morning after.

Their bedroom had natural light now from the cloudy sky, and on the bed laid a broken boy with a red tinged cloth covering his face. Hope was sat in a nearby chair looking at him when Lyall came through the door with new dressings for Remus and a cup of tea for her. Absentmindedly, she reached out a hand to grab the cup and let it sit in her hands untouched by her lips while Lyall got to work. As he was wringing out the new cloths, Remus caught a glimpse of his younger self's face. The cuts were still deep and open, though there was no more blood and they'd shrunk down in size to the two scars he had now.

"It's almost been a week Lyall..." She said softly, almost as though she were musing. Her words rang through Remus head as the silence hung between them. He always assumed his first transformation was like the rest where he was conscious by the next day...

"He'll pull through." He responded gruffly. What happened obviously took its toll. Hearing the way they spoke to each other made that clear. "He will..." Lyall hands softly grazed over the younger Remus' hair to lightly mess it the way he'd always done. While his locks weren't anywhere near as long, the sentiment remained the same. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed his fingertips to his temples. Judging by the dark circles underneath both of their eyes, it seemed that the only one getting any rest was the boy lying in the bed.

"You said it's just like the stories." Said Hope.

"Hm?"

"Being a werewolf." She leaned forward slightly and she spoke. "Every full moon he'll… he'll change."

"Yes." He replied, turning around to look at his son.

"Will it be painful for him?" She asked, rubbing her forearms which had since been healed.

"Yes." As the present Remus listened on, the only thing he could think of was how much he'd prefer the pain of his transformations that witness the pain on their faces talking about it.

"And there's no cure yet."

"No."

"Will he try to hurt us again?" She asked, the waiver in her voice breaking Remus heart. She rubbed her arms again and both Lyall and Remus took a step towards her. He knelt in front of her and stroked her arms so that she wouldn't. "I can't look at him the same anymore. I don't want to think of him as a monster. He's our baby." She said between sniffles and sobs.

Even though he couldn't touch her, Remus reached out for his mother's shoulder as she cried into her hand.

"Oh mam, I'm so sorry." He said, despite knowing he'd be ignored. Knowing that he hurt her of anyone as a monster hit him like a freight train. The scene continued to play out in front of him as his father sat up from his seat on the bed to kneel down in front of her.

"...Do you want it to go away?" Lyall asked, his voice obviously being the more even of the two even though it was still strained. She looked back at him with a puzzled expression, prompting him to continue. "I can do it. Take away the memory of you seeing him like that. You'd never have to think about it again. If it will help, I can do it." They both sat in silence for what seemed like ages before she nodded, wiping the tears from her face before uttering the smallest of pleases to her husband. He took out his wand and held it to the side of her head.

"Will it hurt?" She asked in another small voice, similar to a child.

"Painless." He replied as he drew his wand to her. Lyall gently laid the tip of his wand to her temple as it shine with a bright white, even in the light of the room. When he drew his arm away, short and curly silver strands of hair drew from her head and glowed hanging from the tip. Lyall reached over to an empty vial on the bedside and tapped his wand to release it into the vial. Like a liquid, it settled to the bottom as Hope watched on with still teary eyes.

"What was that?" She asked in a dreamy tone before Lyall pulled her forehead to his lips. "Lyall?"

" _Obliviate."_ He muttered, sending the present Remus pulling upwards again with a hard jerk as the room faded into inkblots retracting to the surface.

.

He was jolted back into his father's office, stumbling and falling backwards as his eyes remained fixed on the basin.

"It's called a Pensieve." Said his Father, who's been sitting in his armchair as though he'd been waiting for Remus the entire time. "We use it to recall memories. Or store them. Sometimes they're happy… sometimes painful." Lyall stood to his feet and walked towards the pensieve. The eerie aqua glow being the main source of light in the room reflected onto his face, showing the disappointment that was otherwise obscured by the darkness. "You weren't meant to see that one." Remus scrambled to his feet again, knowing he was going to be lectured despite his head still reeling from what he just saw.

"I'm sorry. I… I just—" He stopped himself and swallowed hard, the only thing on his mind being the only question on his lips. But he was afraid to ask because it would only make it more real. "What was that?"

"I trust it was clear enough for you to know."

It was all he needed to say. The harsh truth was confirmed that Remus _did_ hurt her. His own mother… one of the people he loved the most he harmed without even realising it. The choking sensation in the back of his throat was almost too much to suppress as he bit hard down on his tongue. "You started to change in the middle of the night, and I didn't think to keep a store of the proper things to sedate you or treat you properly as readily available to stop you from.—…" Remus could feel the tears to well beyond the point of bothering to keep them in. He was glad his father didn't finish. "You understand now that there is a reason I keep most of the things off limits in my office."

As he stood there sniffling and wiping away his own tears, he heard his father's footsteps inch closer to him. He rested both hands on the sides of his arms; similar to the way he did when he took his mother's memory away.

"Remus, look at me." His tone was softer now. Of course he felt sorry for his blubbering son. Remus felt pathetic. Reluctantly, he brought his eyes to his father's who he couldn't quite focus on behind the tears. "You are not _this_." He said, bringing on hand to Remus face to trace over his scars. "Nothing that happened that night is your fault. You are not a monster. Do you understand me?"

"Ye—yes."

"Tell me."

"It's not— not my fault." Remus stuttered back to him.

"Mhm… and?"

"I'm n—not a monster."

"Good lad." He said, messing his hair and drawing a smile from Remus. "Now, fix your face and off to bed. We can talk about this more tomorrow."

"Okay." Remus replied as he wiped his face before turning to leave his father's office.

"Oh, and Remus?" his father called out. "…Don't tell your mother about what you saw."

 _More secrets._ He thought to himself as he nodded in promise to his father. _Always more secrets…_

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes:_**

Hey guys! I hope you're still enjoying the series!I wanted to just pop in because I know I'm a little lighter on the notes this go around, but the blog is always open for feedback and FAQ, or you can of course hit up a review here for me. I still wanted to extend that all feedback is welcome!


	8. Forgiving Returns

**Chapter Eight**

 **Forgiving Returns**

It was hard for Remus to look at his mother for the few days between the moon and Christmas. Like he promised, he didn't tell her or even gave any indication that he knew. IT wasn't as thought it mattered anyway since whatever his father did to her, wiped her memory clean of that night anyway. What was important was that she was happy… no longer the scared and broken woman he saw sitting at his bedside at death's door.

"Everything alright, sweetheart?" She asked as she walked into the dining room and caught him trailing his spoon around his bowl of breakfast. "Quite a long face for Christmas morning." She was speaking to him in welsh since it was just the two of them. He liked it when she did since it made him feel like the two of them had a secret code, it always just took him a minute to adjust his ears to respond appropriately.

"Just a bit tired is all." Said Remus, a little embarrassed that she caught him brooding. He adjusted quickly after that and moved the hair out of his face to smile at her. She returned the smile he gave and kissed him on the top of the head. He knew she loved it when he moved his hair out of his face. "Merry Christmas, mam."

It was the tender moments like this that would make the secret easier to keep if it meant there would be more. Though he needed to be more careful if she can already pick up on his off mood first thing in the morning.

"Merry Christmas to you too." She replied while pouring herself her own bowl of porridge to wait for her husband to join them.

A few moments later, the Lupin's barn owl Ezra was lightly rapping on the window to let himself in. Clearly he was smart enough to know that he had a busy day of delivering letters awaiting him, since the way he fluffed his feathers looked what Remus imagined as a sort of owl warm up.

"I think me and Ez get along great now." She said, reaching over her bowl to the window to stroke his breast feathers. Ezra fluffed himself out again and cooed before affectionately nibbling at her fingers. "I never thought I'd get used to owl post, but I quite like it—"

"Merry Christmas morning, Lupins." Said Lyall as he walked through the front door "You know I can only understand those funny welsh words when you're saying names. That, or 'cusan.'" He walked by and messed Remus' hair as he normally did before swooping into the kitchen to plant a big kiss on Hope's cheek. She giggled and said something else in welsh to him that obviously he wasn't meant to understand, but it made Remus giggle. "What'd she say?"

"I said Merry Christmas to my wonderful husband." She wrapped her arms around his neck and Remus closed his eyes so that the sight of their cutesy kissing wouldn't brand him.

"Guys, I'm eating." He said, followed by them shuffling apart and his mother clearing her throat.

"Well, since you're here now Lyall, we can start opening the presents."

.

The haul was better than he anticipated. There were a few handmade cardigans from his mother as well as a new set of tennis shoes since the ones he had now were slowly reaching the end of their life. She seemed to over project herself since the sleeves and bottom button only went passed their mark by a few inches.

"I was trying to make sure you had room to grow into it." She giggled, reaching a hand to lift up his, which was buried beneath the fabric. "I think another growth spurt from you will do it."

When he got to the final gift that his mother placed under the tree when he and Lyall had been away at the Shrieking Shack, he unwrapped the paper carefully to hide his excitement to see a small wooden box. Once opened, there was a small, glistening silver tube that fit a little larger than the size of his hand with runes etched into it. Upon examining it further, Remus noticed a notch towards one end with small holes going down in a spiral pattern, making the light that bounced off of it bend and skew into Remus' hand.

"What is it?" Remus asked, still turning the tube in his hand and following the pattern of tiny holes, completely mesmerized by the design.

"It's a moon whistle." Said Lyall. Remus didn't need to look up to know there was a smile on his face. "We thought it was a decent time to start a magical object collection of your own."

"A moon whistle…?" He repeated back wistfully.

"Mhm. We sometimes use them on field projects at work." He leaned forward and pointed at the holes. "There are countless combinations, each one to the tune of a different beast to help soothe and calm it… especially the really angry ones." In looking back into the box, Remus could see a handwritten codex that he assumed were some instructions. Remus held it up to his lips and blew. Both he and his mother turned to his father with equally perplexed expressions.

"There's no noise coming out of it." He said, turning the whistle in his hand carefully, thinking he'd broken it already.

"It won't always. But fantastic beasts are very different from people. They can hear and sense things we can't. So, be careful with this."

"I will, thank you." Remus smiled brightly. He was excited to finally own something magical that wasn't required by him in a school letter. He opened the box again to delicately place the whistle back in its home, making a mental note to look at the codex to see what sort of noises he could get it to make later. "So you have one too then?" He asked after closing the box and keeping it on his lap. Lyall nodded, the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, as Remus was sure he was eagerly anticipating his next question. "How come I've never seen it?"

"Oh, you have."

 _x-x-x_

It only took until the next day for the letters to come and go wishing his friends a merry Christmas. James' letter came first, which came in a much thicker envelope than usual. Remus stroked Ezra and gave him a treat while curiously examining the envelope, opening it to reveal that Sirius and Peter's letters haphazardly folded and jammed inside. He smiled to himself, knowing that making sure he sent all the letters at the same time was something James probably almost forgot to do.

He read James' first, wishing him the generic holiday greetings as well as a paragraph of things he got from his parents, none of which he could bring to school of course, so there was no telling if he was stretching the truth or not when Remus read the words 'dragon egg.' Sirius' was next, and rather than list off what he received, he mainly wrote about how much he wished Remus was around to enjoy all of his under the breath and snide comments at the Black Christmas Dinner table, which Remus was sure he would have. Sirius wrote the play-by-play down, but Remus was sure he'd get the audible version as soon as they all were reunited again in their dormitory. Peter's was last, and in his awful handwriting, wrote to Remus about how much he enjoyed his holiday with his grandmother and how much she downright spoiled him with sweets. The smile that stayed on Remus' face could have brought the sun out of the overcast. The holiday season always brought warm feelings for him, but having friends, true friends to share them with even though they were separated made them all the more enjoyable.

In writing back to each of them from the kitchen countertop, another owl startled him as it swooped in and landed on the windowsill. It was Lily's. He looked over his shoulder to make sure his parents weren't lurking around to spy on him. He carefully untied the letter from the guest owl's leg and gave the same gesture of a stroke and a treat as he did with his own. As usual, Lily's letters had a much neater appearance that made the boy's look like savages, which he was sure she'd be delighted at the comparison. Trying not to seem too excited, he carefully opened the letter as to not rip the parchment in complete contrast to how he treated James'.

Remus felt silly for feeling giddy just looking at her handwriting. He'd read her letter so slowly he didn't comprehend what she'd written until he read through the next time. Her Christmas had gone well. Her parents took them on a trip rather than spent money on presents, which she wrote that she thoroughly enjoyed since it meant that her and her sister Petunia got along much better, which he was happy to hear about since he knew they'd been on less than friendly terms since she started school. She concluded her note asking him to write soon before they all returned back to school, which he had every intention in doing. He carefully folded the letters back and placed them in their respective envelopes before finishing his replies, sending Ezra to the Potters, and Lily's owl back to her.

.

The New Year came and went and before Remus knew it, he'd been sat staying up late at the dining room table eating a bowl of ice cream from lack of sleep for his trip back to school the next morning. He was eager to return. Since he'd written his friends he ached to see them again as well as the castle. The excitement of even going on the train back made Remus feel like it was Christmas eve all over again since sleep was so hard to achieve. Of course, he'd find any excuse to eat chocolate desserts, and telling himself he'd catch up on any sleep he missed on the train seemed a better excuse than any. He'd only been there for a few minutes before he started to hear footfalls down the halls coming towards him. He could tell it was his father by how heavy and often they hit the floor, and wasn't surprised to see him round the corner into the kitchen.

"Evening." Said Lyall midyawn. "Better that you're sat _here_ at this ungodly hour." Remus didn't react right away since he knew what his father meant in catching him eating ice cream than reliving forgotten memories. It always seemed like every time he saw his father after the incident he was in danger of it being brought up, reprimanded again, or lectured... But it never happened. At that point he almost wished he would so he'd stop being so on edge about it. Instead, Lyall sleepily grabbed a bowl from one of the cabinets and fixed himself a bowl of ice cream to eat across the table from Remus. "Can't sleep either." He said, digging his spoons and grabbing a big glob.

"Going to miss me that much?" Remus replied, flipping his moppy hair out of his face rather than move it since his hands were occupied with his own bowl and spoon.

"Of course I will." He said with a half full mouth, making a face at the imminent brain freeze before continuing on. "But no, I regret to report I may be getting older than I feel. I keep getting a ringing in my ears and it's woken me up again." He dug his pinky finger and wiggled it around, a motion that would have only been excused with just the two of them. Though, Remus could hear his mother's tutting in his own ears as he watched him.

"Too many loud monsters roaring in your ears at work all day I'm sure will do that to you."

"Ah, yes the beasts. They would actually be a welcome change to what I deal with. But I have a feeling you may be right and it's got something to do with that." They both laughed softly and ate quietly across from each other.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Mhm?"

"Have you ever heard of the Grimoire?" Remus was just as surprised that the question came from his lips as he was sure his father was to hear it. Spontaneous as it might have been, the only person he could think to ask about how the Book of Beasts was sitting across from him indulging in ice cream. The only other person was torn to pieces in the Forbidden Forest.

After Lyall's initial raise of his eyebrows at the question, he simply looked up to Remus and tilted his head before asking another question in reply.

"Have you?"

Remus put another spoonful in his mouth before swallowing hard to rest the unease. "I just know they're a bunch of old books. Supposed to be really important...?"

"In theory, yes. There used to be a whole project in my department to look for and study one of them. It would have made our jobs easier. There's one that can control any magical creature. Could you imagine? Anyway, I personally never liked the project. It caused too many problems. Eventually it got shut down and scrapped entirely."

"But you said it would make your jobs easier. Wouldn't that have been a good thing?" Asked Remus, looking at his father curiously.

"Just because something can be done, doesn't mean it _should_. It's not natural to control will, and not everyone will play by the rules. It's why doing it to people sticks you straight into Azkaban prison."

The thought immediately made Remus shudder as he thought of one person in particular. "I wonder what Abraxas Malfoy would do with something like that."

"Nothing good." Lyall said, whilst chuckling and looking down. Even thought Remus was completely serious about the comment he made, he knew his father's perspective was more hypothetical. He needed him to stay in that mindset for his next question…

"Last one." He said, waiting for his father to nod before going on. "How would the hollow affect them?"

He didn't speak at first, probably because of what Remus assumed was realising the question.

"The hollow? That's pretty heavy midnight ice cream talk, Remus. What makes you ask?"

"That gypsy in the paper." He responded quickly. "She told me in the alley that the hollow can't be disturbed otherwise the Grimoire pages will be erased." His father stared at him in silence for a few agonizing seconds, making Remus nervous. "…or something."

"The gypsy in the paper…" He said, scratching his chin to think back to some sort of familiarity to what Remus was referring to. He yawned again and shrugged. "Dunno much about how it would affect anything since the hollow is just a fairy tale." Remus figured as much, and slumped slightly in disappointment. "You know they say the reason the forest in Hogwarts is forbidden is because there's a hollow there if you wander in deep enough."

"Yeah right."

"Think about it. It would explain a lot, wouldn't it?" Remus went silent after that when he thought about Peter's words to him after the story about there being truth to fairy tales. Before he could think on it anymore, his father changed the subject. "Have you got yourself a girlfriend yet?"

 _x-x-x_

Getting on the train never did get any easier. He knew it wouldn't be the last time he saw his parents ever again, but he couldn't get used to the goodbyes. His mother fighting back any hint of a choke in her throat didn't help either. One thing he did notice about this time around was how much longer and tighter his father held him this time. Perhaps he still felt a bit guilty from allowing Remus to see his mother's forgotten memories, but all of that seemed to be so insignificant now. After another kiss on the cheek and ruffle of his hair, Remus boarded the train back to school and scanned the cabins for a place to sit. Thankfully it wasn't as difficult to find as the beginning of the year as one presented itself almost immediately. When he peered through, he saw the back of a girl's head with a familiar set of blonde pigtails beneath a winter hat.

"Hello Remus." She said before turning her head towards him and smiling with something brighter than the last time they'd met.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked, taking her greeting as a welcome and sliding open the door to join her.

"We just went through a tunnel and I saw your reflection in the glass."

"Oh." He responded, making her giggle and he settled himself in. He kicked his trunk under the seat rather than lifting it above to make sure it was secure. It was much faster, and he didn't need to worry if the train made any sudden stops of being in danger of having his head smushed. He took his seat across from her and kicked up his feet to relax, only to let them drop down almost immediately as he just as quickly remembered that sitting with her may not have been the same as sitting with the boys.

"I didn't know you were going home for the holiday." She said, turning towards him now rather than facing the window.

"Neither." Said Remus. "I don't remember seeing you on the train home?"

"Oh, I left a little later and got the earlier train back." She shrugged, removing her gloves and hat to let her fringe and pigtails frame her rounded face instead. Her bright blue and cat-like eyes were much more noticeable now without the extra garb. "It's okay though, I like the castle when it's a bit quieter."

"I do too. Not as many people around to worry about." She nodded in agreement and smiled politely before looking back out the window to admire the scenery. The train had rounded off into the countryside now, only instead of rolling hills of green, there was a fresh coat of snow blanketing as far as the eye could see. However, since snow had been coming down rather thick that day, the distance wasn't too far. While she looked, Remus struggled to bring up more conversation. There was always an odd tension he had with Thalia. It was not anywhere near the nervous kind he had around Lily, or the distaste he had around Avery, who thankfully he'd managed to not cross paths with as much this year, but still a feeling discomforting enough to make him feel the need to speak. "How have you been, Thalia?"

"Just fine." She said, turning to look at him again. "I've been taking extra tutoring with Professor Folly, so I think I'm doing much better this year."

"Hard to believe you need extra, you're usually very good at spells."

"My mother says there's always room for improvement. I think maybe it's better to just get all the help I can get."

"Your mother has never seen you ace a Herbology practical. I think having you as my partner last year is the only reason I'm keeping myself with good marks this year." She laughed again, and he started to feel more at ease until she looked out the window again and creating more awkward dead air between them. "How about other than school?"

"Remus, you're being very nice… but you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to." She said, still staring out the window. Whatever ease he felt completely disappeared when she spoke.

"I _do_ want to." She turned her eyes back towards him.

"You do?"

"Yeah. You were right for bringing it up before, and I feel awful for avoiding you. I'm sorry." Regardless of if she was even listening or caring at that point, Remus was starting to feel an immense weight beginning to lift off of him, that he started just spewing out what else was at the forefront of his mind. "Being around you forced me to come to terms with… what I am. Dodging you made it easier to ignore, but I don't want to do that anymore."

It seemed in his journey explaining himself; he came across some of the truth he'd been avoiding in himself as well as her. He felt sheepish in admitting such insecurity even to himself, let alone out loud. He didn't even know what he hoped to gain from it. There was a brief silence, long enough for Remus to consider his decision in sitting down and subjecting himself to a very long and uncomfortable train ride before she spoke.

"I accept your apology." She said making him look up to her to see that she'd been smiling again. The relief was like a powerful wind sweeping the weight off of his shoulders, as he couldn't help but return the gesture and smile in return. "You can talk to me about it if you'd like. I'm a good listener." She said, turning again to look at the still open window of their car. In response, Remus stood up and closed the door and window to make sure they would be in no danger of eavesdroppers, taking a deep breath as he began to tell.

.

He'd never said werewolf out loud so much or enough that the words felt silly coming from his lips, especially to someone whom he did not consider himself very close with. Thalia listened to him as he explained his illness and how he contracted it from Fenrir Greyback. How he met professor Zilar in the woods and found his mangled body, and how he's never been able to recollect a night transformed other than that one since. She didn't speak or interrupt, and it wasn't before too long that Remus felt his tongue start to dry out from talking so much.

He felt a little embarrassed that he'd gone on talking for quite some time without much of a break, but he'd never had an opportunity to actually decompress about it all. Of course he had outlets in the professors should he have chosen to, but he knew himself well enough to know that he'd sooner spill his guts to Sterling Avery than deal with the uncomfortable conversation of talking about the struggles of adolescent lycanthropy with a teacher. Even Madam Pomfrey, who'd been with him since the beginning of his first year and helping him was far too burdened with the illnesses and mishaps with the other students, that Remus wouldn't have dared added something else for her to worry about. She did so much for him already that it wouldn't have been fair.

Thalia seemed to _understand._ Even though she didn't have much in the way of verbal response, her expressions were enough for him to tell that he wasn't going on about something she'd never heard, or for all he knew, seen before. It almost got to the point where he wanted to divulge things just for the sake of shocking her, but he figured those moments were where he drew the line on privacy, especially since those had most to do with his home life.

"Do you remember when I told you that someone I cared about very much was the same as you?" She said once there was a long enough break in the silence. Remus nodded in anticipation. In truth he hadn't thought about it too much at all since she told him at the end of last year, but now that he felt she was going to tell him more, his interest piqued. "It's my uncle. Well, sort of uncle. He's my aunt's..." It didn't make much sense at all the way she was describing him, but Remus knew she'd been close to her aunt from speaking with her before and seeing their embrace on the platform before the summer. "He's told me that something that helps him is knowing the people he cares about still love him even though he's a werewolf. Maybe telling your best friends would help you the same way."

"It sounds great when you say it like that but…" He looked down at his hands that were anxiously picking at his fingernails. It just wasn't worth the risk to him. Thinking about how horribly that conversation would inevitably backfire made it impossible for Remus' stomach lurch.

"I'm just saying, it might help. I know people can be nasty, but people can be kind too." She said, rubbing her forearms as she spoke, and oddly enough, reminding Remus of his time in Diagon Alley when he heard a woman's off-handed comment about his face, and how right she was in the former of her point. Aimlessly, his mind wandered back into his memories of the alley, and rested in the mystery again of the woman and her borderline prophetic warning of the hollow. He seemed to be dwelling on it a lot lately; despite everyone telling him it's nothing. "Sorry if I've said something wrong." Said Thalia, no doubt responding to the silence.

"Oh— no, you didn't." He replied, moving the hair out of his face. "I was just thinking about something—"

There was a harder turn in the train, and with it, Remus' trunk crashed into the side of the car beneath his seat. Not thinking too much about it, he continued unwrapping one of his sweets from home when he heard a slight hum from Thalia.

"That book..." She said owning forward and squinting to get a better look. Remus looked between his legs to see his trunk opened from the bump, revealing his last minute luggage item peeking through the crack, bindings first. "What I that?"

"Oh-" he scrambled, shutting the top of his trunk down with his foot and am the light him it was emitting immediately ceased once he locked it. "I'm sure you haven't. It's just some old thing I found lying around my house." She gave him another face indicating that she knew he was lying to her, by obviously did not want to overstep her boundaries in wanting to keep them on speaking terms. She left it alone, still giving Remus a wary look, tempting him to explain himself without her having to ask.

"I just thought... I thought you'd found my old book is all. It was important-" she cut herself off. "I must be imagining it. I lost that book ages ago, and there's no way it could be mine if you found it in your house I suppose." She said in an offhandish sort of way, phrasing it more like a question rather than a musing. "The lettering on the ends got my hopes up. It looked like it was written in the same language."

He bit his tongue to keep from responding. . More questions flooded into his head as he began to wonder if maybe she could understand the words in the book. If he asked, he'd be divulging far more than he wanted to. It wasn't entirely impossible, but he was force to face the reality that even though Thalia knew his secrets and he'd just spent the better part of the train ride pouring his heart and struggles to her, that perhaps she may not have been the best person to do so. He knew better than to judge someone from their family, but it'd been a fact he couldn't ignore.

"Sorry." He muttered. Not quite sure what else to say, but settled on a neutral response. He hated having to think so much around her. He was met with a vague shrug in response.

"It's okay. I just hope you take better care of yours than I did mine." Remus did not give enough credit to Thalia that it was insulting. After s few moments of silence, it occurred to him that perhaps he was settling into his habit of overthinking, as if Thalia really wanted to do any sort of damage, she very well could have by now. Watching the blonde pig tailed girl look wistfully out the window at the passing trees, it didn't seem she'd have it in her.

Remus helped her with her trunk as they arrived back to the Station. The train ride had been long, and the sun was long set that the only light were of the lampposts emitting a warm glow reflecting off of the freshly fallen snow. They were greeted by Hagrid who was dressed in such a dense fur coat that Remus wasn't quite sure where the giant man ended and the coat began.

"Over here fer check in!" He bellowed, waving his hand as if he'd be hard to miss. Thalia giggled as the pair of them walked towards Hagrid. "Hello young Mr. Lupin, Miss Winsor." The pair of them greeted him back in kind, Thalia practically bouncing while doing so. Hagrid quite fascinating and her giddiness was infectious as Remus couldn't help suppressing a smile at her bubbly demeanor around him. The two of them made sure they had their affairs in order before continuing down to the carriages, and Remus began assisting her with her trunk again when he looked up to see the colour completely drained from her face and her expression read like that of someone who'd just seen a ghost. He looked at her with a puzzled expression of his own since only a few moments ago she'd been such a complete contrast of moods.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking over his shoulder toward the direction she was looking to see nothing but the carriages all lined up to head back to the castle.

Except, there was a man. A man stood by a few carriages down from them, bundled up in elegant winter robes of his own. He was too far away to make out, and his back was towards them, but Thalia seemed to know who it was right away. It seemed he sensed as soon as Remus looked up and caught sight of him, as he immediately turned on his heel and spotted the two of them standing there. He strode over casually, keeping his hands inside of his pockets as his face became clearer and less obscured by the dark the closer he approached. Remus began to get an aching feeling in his stomach, as he'd had his fill of mysterious men walking towards him while being unsure if their intentions. He fought the urge to draw his wand, although by the stature of the man coming towards them, he imagine may not have been the best plan of action anyway.

As the man drew nearer, his face became more and more clear from the reflection of light in snow, revealing a face that Remus least expected to see.

"Hello darling." Said the sickeningly icy voice of Donax Winsor. "Had to make a last minute trip to the castle. Thought I might catch you here." He raised a hand to cup Thalia's cheek and stroke it with his thumb, as Remus' insides clenched like a fist.


	9. A Troubling Breach

**Chapter Nine**

 **A Troubling Breach**

Remus felt like he'd just stepped off into a dream with how surreal it was for him being face to face with Mr. Winsor, especially since he was the man who'd accused Remus of Professor Zilar's murder before the school year began.

"I've forgotten my manners. We haven't been officially introduced, my boy." He said, holding out his hand to shake. "Donax Winsor." Remus gingerly held out his own to grasp in, only just opening his mouth to speak when Winsor spoke again. "I know who you are of course Remus, Son of world-renowned expert on spirits and apparitions himself, Lyall Lupin. Quite the prestige indeed." Remus could feel his cheeks fill up with colour. It wasn't too often he heard his father's accomplishments, especially when people could recognise him because if it. "Ironic, his prestige paired with your affliction. Terribly sorry we've started off on the wrong foot. You know it was nothing personal, the hearing."

"Y-yes sir. Thank you." Remus replied sheepishly, feeling the complete opposite in that he'd been personally victimised by the man. Of course he'd never admit it out loud, especially since Winsor had been much more intimidating standing in front of him in person rather than sat down in a wizarding court room. He held a lot of power over Remus knowing his illness, and Remus wasn't in any position to tempt him to have him pulled from school in letting a word of it slip.

He glanced over to Thalia, who'd been quiet for their brief conversation, and her eyes fixed on her father, as if she we're waiting for him to ask something of her. In a gesture of being polite, he opened the door of the carriage for the two of them and stepped in behind to join them. He sat across from the two of them and turned his head in the direction the carriages when they started to pull forward by themselves, leaving them all in an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry, sir..." Said Remus, itching to ask a question. "But why are you here?"

"Ministry business." He said succinctly. "If anything to make sure that everything is going as planned."

"With... me?" Remus asked. He remembered the year before when Abraxas Malfoy was sent to do an audit, and assumed that he'd been there to do the same. Thalia turned to look at him with a look of bewilderment, as if she were completely shocked that he had the audacity to even make Eye contact with her father let alone speak without being spoken to. A small smile pulled at the corner of the older man's lips.

"Forgive me for not disclosing. It's a private matter, as my job makes me a very private man." Remus nodded in understanding but unsatisfied and a little frustrated. Why go through the trouble of making his presence known to them if he wasn't going to tell them why he's been there, especially if it were concerning him, Remus thought he had a right to know. "It won't matter. You won't see much of me if at all during my stay."

He glanced over to Thalia when he remembered what she told him about her fathers work, that it was something not to be spoken about. Her change of being so bubbly only moments ago to being quiet and cordial unsettled him around Winsor even more. Still, he couldn't help but admire the air of mystery about the man as he made a mental note in his way of keeping secrets, as he knew there was a thug or two he could learn from him.

In that moment, he was astoundingly aware of the book hiding in his trunk.

.

There were bits of small talk for the remainder of the trip. He asked about classes, other activities they enjoyed. Even though the conversation had innocent connotations, the discomfort still rested thick enough between them to cut with a knife. He was thankful at how much better spoken Thalia seemed to be around him, since it seemed that every timeframes opened his mouth, the words wouldn't come as quickly or eloquently as they sounded in his head.

Remus felt the instant wash of relief as soon as the carriages started to slow down rounding their way towards the entrance, knowing it meant he wouldn't need to bear it for much longer. He couldn't have left the carriage fast enough, but he didn't want to seem too eager, especially if it meant leaving Thalia behind.

"It's not often I meet children as well-mannered as my daughter. The next time I see your father I'll have to give him my compliments." Said Winsor as he stepped off the carriage. Placing one hand into his winter coat pocket as he helped Thalia off. "And you mother, the muggle." Remus felt his blood begin to boil as he prepared himself for the cross words a pure blooded man had to say about his mother. Not that he could really do anything to stop him, which only made the situation worse. Winsor must have seen the colour in Remus' face rise by that point. "Please don't misunderstand me. While we are a family that upholds pure blood traditions, I recognise that muggles have proven their worth and usefulness even in our world." It was small comfort. As he stepped off the carriage, he rather the conversation halted altogether as he was ashamed of himself for letting his emotions display so plainly on his face. The older man looked over his shoulder at the castle entrance to see professors McGonagall and Dumbledore waiting at the entrance. Now that he's thought about it, it's been the first time he'd really seen the headmaster all year aside from at a distance at feasts. Did he still care? Perhaps his interest was lost now since he'd proven himself not to be any trouble... "I shall be going now. I'm afraid this will be the last time we'll meet here, but bot the last time we cross paths again." Said Winsor, snapping Remus from his train of though and holding out his hand again for Remus to shake, who made sure he gripped hard enough in a display of some sort that he wasn't some awkward weakling who stumbled over his speech as he so clearly displayed.

"That went well I think." Said Thalia. Remus turned to look at her as her father walked away, wary of her tone since it came across to him that she was completely serious. It'd been the first words she'd spoken of her own accord since they stepped off the train to the carriages, as it seemed around her father, she was as focused and concentrated as she was in her classes, if not more. He wanted to ask her about it, but he knew it would only lead to more unanswered questions. "I really like Hagrid." She said, the bounce slowly returning to her step as they walked back to the castle. "He's always so kind to everyone, isn't he?"

.

It seemed like they walked into the middle of a conversation when the two of them entered a castle. It'd been obvious by the way everyone seemed to be huddled together that there'd been something they just missed while they were away. Anywhere the two of them walked was buzzing with talk like it'd been the newest gossip, but with everyone talking all at once and moving between the corridors and stairs from being on holiday, it was hard to concentrate on any one conversation, even with Remus' sensitive ears.

Students were on about the Hollow this, and the Hollow that. From He heard the word thrown around more in the five minutes getting to the stairs than he had in the last five months. It'd all been scattered pieces of different versions of the story he'd heard from Peter before. The well of dark magic, the fact that there were many, the myth of one residing in the dark forest… but there was no reason why this was circulating around. The echoes swirled around his head like liquid in a large bowl, that he half expected to wake up back in Wales to get ready for the train to leave with how consistently bizarre his day seemed to be going.

"Did something happen?" Thalia asked on their way up the stairs. He'd been so concentrated trying to tune into the different buzzes around them that the sudden and sharp sound of her voice made him jump. She gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry. You just looked very focused?"

"Remus!" said another startling voice that belonged to Sirius, making him jump again as he saw his friend zooming down the stairs. "Remus, you won't believe what happened— Oh, hey Winsor." He nodded towards her. Remus fought the urge to roll his eyes, at Sirius having another unbelievable story to return with. "Did you two just get in?"

"Yeah, maybe ten minutes ago—"

"Someone got caught in the forest."

"What." They said simultaneously.

"Do they know if it was it a student?" She asked sounding concerned.

"No one knows. I only just found out this morning." He said, starting to climb back up the stairs and motioning for them to follow. "Frank Longbottom stayed home for the holiday and said he heard Professor Slughorn tell Professor Folly, who then told Professor McGonagall that someone breached one of the enchantments. I didn't even know there were enchantments around the forest. I wonder what else there are enchantments around…" Remus shrugged in reply as he trailed behind Sirius, his mind still reeling from the news that he didn't even notice Thalia break away from them. The way Sirius told the story was almost expectantly, like he anticipated Remus already knowing the details in hopes that he would be able to fill him in, similarly to their classes.

"Dunno. But wait, what does that have to do with the Hollow?" He replied as the pair of them crawled through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. The homey smell would have been comforting for Remus if he weren't so on edge.

"Well because there's a hollow in the forest." He answered casually like he hadn't been violently shaking Remus' world apart in a matter of minutes.

"I thought you said it was just a story?" Said Remus, trying desperately to make his tone match Sirius and not have a hint of genuine worry.

"It is but, it's kinda weird that that old lady was talking about it to you in the alley, she shows up in the paper, and now someone's trying to break into the forest? Why else would anyone go there? The scenery?"

Remus didn't have an answer, but he had a feeling he knew who would. The only tricky part then was figuring out how to ask him.

x - x - x

He waited a few weeks into the swing of classes to start up again to plan his trip to Dumbledore's office. He didn't want to wait too long since even from its new home at the bottom of his trunk, the Book of Beasts relentless and droning humming noise was the source of many awoken from dreams in the middle of the night for Remus, which was teetering dangerously between mildly inconvenient, and annoying.

Of course in that time the only thing worse than waiting was not letting his imagination get the better of him, which proved to be more difficult with each passing day since it seemed the other students weren't as prudent on the matter. It seemed he couldn't go a few hours without still hearing about everyone's theories, even his own friends and housemates. It almost became a sidebar conversation in History of Magic class until Professor Binns must have realised that the topic had been far too exciting and he needed to dull down the class with the secrets and origins of wand woods. Still, if one thing was certain, it was that the new booming and resurgence of fairy tales had made it's mark on Hogwarts and stayed relevant long enough that when Remus finally managed to find a block of time after dinner to make it to the third floor corridor to the Headmaster's office entrance, that the reason for his visit didn't seem stale.

The entrance to Dumbledore's office was as daunting as ever. As Remus adjusted the sling of his pack over his shoulder, he eyed the griffon statue, not knowing the first clue as to what the password would be. Then it occurred to him that perhaps he should have asked a teacher rather than make such a covert operation before classes started up again to see the headmaster.

"Er… _Guest?_ " He said, feeling silly when nothing responded right away. After a few moments, the griffon's head turned down towards him, almost looking through him with its creepy stone eyes.

"Name?" it asked him in a deep gravelly voice.

"R-Remus Lupin." He didn't even know the statue could move other than creating the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"The headmaster approves." The statue began to turn, revealing the chiseled stone staircase that led straight to Remus' next destination. The large wooden door was still shut when Remus arrived to the top, and gave it a few light taps to announce himself.

"Come in, Remus." Said the familiar voice of the headmaster. Without any effort on his part, the door swung itself open in front of Remus, where he could see Professor Dumbledore looking down at his desk. As he approached, his crystal blue eyes flicked to him from his half-moon spectacles, and the indication of a smile could be seen through his long silver beard. Remus could feel himself slowly slip into ease despite what he carried with him, which he could still hear the faint hum of through the fabric of his pack. Dumbledore gestured for him to sit, and Remus planted himself down in the chair directly across from the headmaster.

"I just didn't know it was so easy to come and talk to you, sir." Said Remus

"Yes, it would seem that there's something about my personality that is dreadfully off-putting enough to deter students and some teachers away." They both laughed, making the tension within Remus slowly melt away. "Did you have a good holiday?" Remus nodded in reply, not giving himself time to think about what he regretted about his journey home. "Your transformation?"

"It went very well, thank you." He realised saying it went as well as it could have wouldn't have been the appropriate thing to say to the man who was gracious enough to let Remus use the shack.

"What would you like to speak to me about Remus?" Dumbledore asked to the point. There was a moment of silence between the two of them as Remus struggled to find a place to begin. He knew Dumbledore wasn't a counselor, but unloading on him was sounding better and better to him with everything that's steadily piled on him since the beginning of the year. He decided to start with his most prominent reason of seeing him first, which conveniently laid by his feet.

"I've been keeping something since the end of last year… and I think it may be too much. It's going to sound like I'm making it up, but I swear I'm not." His voice cracked as his nerves started to get the better of him. A part of him was ashamed that he kept something unnecessarily hidden away that he didn't want to admit it, but a larger part of him knew there wasn't much that would surprise his headmaster. Dumbledore didn't speak, but rather kept his gaze fixed on Remus above his half-moon spectacles in a gesture to urge him to continue.

Remus reached into his knapsack and took out the large leather-bound book, whose ornate silver lettering reading _Imperium Vitae Periculosae_ gleamed in the lighting of the room. Dumbledore gave a puzzled expression from the book to Remus, holding out his hand to take it from him. The hum lightly tuned in his ears, almost whispering to him in a hushed menacing way not to let him take it. When Dumbledore took it from his hands, the humming stopped immediately, reeling Remus back in to his previous disposition.

"Did you father give this to you?" asked Dumbledore, examining the binding rather than the pages. He seemed wary to open it, as if there were some invisible trap lingering on the other side of the leather covers waiting for him to take the bait.

"No, sir." He replied, watching his headmaster survey the book.

"Then I'd very much like to know how it came into your possession, Remus." When Remus brought his attention to the man rather than the object, he noticed Dumbledore's clear blue eyes staring straight at him. An odd errant thought of how they differed from Mr. Winsor's icy blue, though it was a small comfort since in that moment they seemed as equally piercing. He opened and closed his mouth as he contemplated an answer, and ultimately decided that he wouldn't bother lying, as he feared it would have been impossible anyway.

"I found it here. In the library." His answer was followed by an eerie silence from the both of them, though they were still staring at each other. "I know I should have given it to someone right away, but—" Dumbledore held up his hand.

"What's important is that you have now. Thank you." Remus nodded in reply. He didn't seem surprised, which Remus wasn't sure was a good or bad thing. "Though I know it may go without saying, I must implore you not to go looking for this book again under any circumstances." With another nod from Remus, Dumbledore grasped his own wand and flicked his wrist, sending the Book of Beasts soaring through the air and into one of the upper tiers of the Headmaster's office. The book stood itself upright and sorted into a shelf of other books, which Remus could only assume was a private library.

He took a deep and silent sigh as to what the meeting had meant. Something that seemed so important to him for the better part of last year and the summer was no a weight so anticlimactically lifted away. Something that was so desperately sought by that mysterious man that Remus could only associate with Death and Darkness since those seemed to be the only instances he could relate him too. His mind flickered for a moment in thinking that perhaps he was the one who was in search of the hollow. It wouldn't have been surprising, but Remus could feel his own dangerous curiosity begin to bubble like a pot set on a ready burner. "Something else troubles you." Dumbledore asked.

"I was also wondering about what happened with the breach in enchantments around the forest." Remus asked transparently. He could have easily spent time thinking about it on his own, rationalizing the why and why not's… but if he was honest he just wanted to know the truth rather than lose sleep. Besides, if it _were_ him, Remus was scared for his own safety.

"Word travels fast within these walls." Dumbledore smiled slightly, clearly despite himself. "I understand you have more concern than other since you know first hand that there has been someone else within the grounds who wasn't a student or a teacher." Remus nodded, feeling the anticipation coiling within him. "It is, regrettably… true." Rather than a warm feeling satisfaction, the answer hit Remus more like a rock to a pane of glass, shattering it. Though he wasn't sure what else he was expecting.

There was a moment of silence again where Remus found himself thinking of all of the other questions the truth surfaced for him. Who was it that breached the forest? Were they dangerous? Was it the same man as before? Was it a student? What were they there for? Was it the Hollow? Was the Hollow in the forest?

"Why is the forest forbidden, professor?" Remus asked. It seemed to be the question at the core of it all. Dumbledore considered it for a moment before standing up and petting the large red bird that stood perched next to his desk.

"There are many speculations, some say it's the dangerous creatures." The bird cooed and shook it's head, leaving a wake of small embers and sparks that caught Remus by surprise. "Being so close to a school, the ministry has deemed it so that no casualties occur in a practical lesson of Care for Magical Creatures… Also as to not be held responsible for any accidents beyond where their power should reach." Dumbledore's answer made sense, but was also strangely unsatisfying. Remus felt his eyes start to wander around the room, going from Dumbledore's big red bird, to his hidden Library that his book disappeared through, to an oddly shaped revolving shelf in the corner of his room. It made him think about his father. "Others however believe in something a little more unconventional."

"The hollow." Said Remus upon realising that what he was staring at was Dumbledore's pensieve. He'd spaced out so much that he didn't realise that he'd spoken aloud until Dumbledore gave him a confirming noise.

"You're familiar with the tale."

"Sort of…" In truth, he'd only just heard more about the Hollow in the passed few months than he ever did in his entire life. He wished he knew the story like Peter. Perhaps then all of the conversation about the topic around the halls would have been less frustrating. Remus wanted to ask the professor to tell him more, but he feared more that he'd run his stock of petering questions dry. Thankfully, Professor Dumbledore continued on unprompted.

"It's believed to be very deep in the forest, and gives power to the mystery and darkness. According to even the more basic stories, you can understand why. There are many versions, but the underlying theme of Dark Magic remains prevalent. Even though it's largely based off fiction, that notion seems to hold more merit, in my opinion."

"You think it exists, sir?" He didn't mean to sound so surprised in asking, but somehow the idea that the Headmaster believed more in a fairy tale than what would have made a little more sense was… oddly encouraging.

"Stranger and much more fantastical things have proven to exist." Said Dumbledore, still smiling wistfully.

He thanked Remus again for bringing him the book and for the talk, and Remus was thankful in kind. It was nice to know that even though he and the headmaster weren't on regular meetings like they seemed to be last year, that he was still a person he could go to for his concerns. Having someone he could trust and confide in completely was something invaluable.

.

By the time Remus actually left the headmaster's office, he didn't realise how late the hour had been. He wasn't breaking curfew by any means, but he also wasn't going to waste any time going back to the common room just in case. Just as he was about to round the corner to the doorways leading to the staircase, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the sudden and incredibly bizarre feeling of a what he could only describe as a warm and moist sausages being jammed into his ear. Remus flailed around immediately, resulting in a loud and shrill cackle coming from above him.

"They said Peevesy shouldn't touch the sick one, but I couldn't resist! Hoo hoo hoo! Worth it, worth it, worth it." Said the voice again, before materializing into a small floating man in dressed in bright multi-coloured clothing. Remus was as perplexed as he was annoyed as he placed his fingers in both of his own ears to somehow cleanse them. It was a horribly inconvenient time to have his first encounter with Peeves the Poltergeist, and what he said along with his actions concerned him.

"Sick? I'm not sick—" He responded quickly, only to be cut off by blown raspberries.

"NOT SICK!" Peeves yelled, making Remus jump. He could feel his nerve slipping away. He turned himself upside down so that their noses touched. "Hmm, maybe Loopy Lupin is right. He's only _barking_ mad! Heeheehee!" With a poof he was gone, leaving Remus utterly bamboozled. He looked around frantically for Peeves again, who's giggles he could hear echoing through the corridor's high ceiling. He didn't even have enough time to be concerned with Peeve's shenanigans when he snapped his head around forward to the sound of other voices approaching.

"I think you've mastered it by this point now." His acute ears picked up on the familiar yet hushed voice of Professor Folly as she rounded the corner with another figure that Remus couldn't quite make out yet under the silhouette of the torches until they spoke as well.

"Really?" said Thalia, whose voice was equally as soft, yet still sounding hopeful.

"Absolutely. I know students usually just want to get the hang of a spell so that they pass the final exam later, but I think you'd give some of the Salem witches a run for their money." She reached up and placed a hand on Thalia's shoulder. "Are you sure you still need extra help on these spells?" Remus tilted his head to listen in better in case the conversation continued. He remembered Thalia telling him about her extra tutoring sessions, but he couldn't help wanting to be nosy as to why. Unfortunately for him, in response Thalia nodded back quickly, as it was clear by that point that the two of them were aware they were to be joined by someone else at the entrance leading to the stairs. "Oh, well good evening Mr. Lupin." Folly smiled at him, her large brown eyes reflecting amber from the torches. By that point he'd already accepted her striking features that the other boys found in her, but he knew the sight of her now was one he could keep for himself. He was thankful the torchlight was enough to hide the colour he could feel rising in his face.

"Hello Professor. Hi Thalia." They both smiled at him, and Thalia had a bit more of a bounce in her step.

"Thalia and I were just heading back. I'll escort both of you back to your common rooms. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor?" She pointed at the staircases, but seemed to realise in that moment that they'd be going in complete opposite directions since Gryffindor tower was on the highest floor and the Hufflepuff basement was below.

"I can go back alone. I think the trip is shorter for me."

"You sure?" Asked Remus.

"Mhm. I've had the last few hours with Professor Folly, so I think I'll be okay." With that, she waved them goodbye and trodded down the stairs, leaving Remus alone with his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She led the way for him and Remus felt himself swallow so hard, he would have thought there was actually something lodged in his throat. He didn't want to start a trend with his teachers after being alone with them for too long, so instead he paid more attention to how many stairs there were than anything else.

"You know, the headmaster had me sorted when he offered me the job." She said, starting conversation. "He explained, the hat I mean, that Gryffindor house is for those who are courageous at heart, even in the face of adversity. I think that fits you quite nicely considering."

"Thank you." He didn't quite know where that came from, but he was flattered nonetheless. Perhaps he'd been too cautious. "Where did the sorting hat put you?"

"Same house, actually. Not sure why… maybe being so hard-headed has it's own merit here?" She laughed and it made Remus feel warm as she tucked her dark curls behind her ear. "I like the sorting, though. It kind of gives you an idea of the person you are or will become. I wish I would have had one similar back home, but clearly we do more things differently than our accents." Remus laughed in agreement. Usually in classes he took Professor Folly very seriously as to learn as much as possible from her since she had much to teach, but he liked that she was easy to talk to. It seemed he lucked out that day on positive conversations with the professors; he was just disappointed it took him so long to actually do so.

What he thought would be a dreadful trip turned out to be a delightful one instead. He thanked professor Folly for the escort before saying the password to allow the portrait to swing open. He waved goodbye to her and watched as she descended and disappeared down the stairs. He couldn't wait to se the look on the boys faces when he told them about his alone and personal time with their professor.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

It feels like ages since I've done one of these! Sometimes I feel like you all probably appreciate more story and less jabbery. I do appreciate everyone being so supportive though with the kind reviews. I haven't written that out for a while, so I really wanted to since I know updates have been a lot more frequent since I've found my muse again.

I really hope you're still enjoying the story so far! I encourage any and all feedback, so please don't be shy! I want to make sure the story is still enjoyable and to grow myself as well to make future installments even better.

Until then, catch you guys later. :)


	10. Déjà Vu

**Chapter Ten**

 **Déjà Vu**

The chatter never stopped. It got to the point where Remus wished that people would talk about something else since it'd been two months since the incident would have occurred anyway, and yet talk never died down. His friends seemed to be equally annoyed with it, but decided that for Remus birthday they would charm his alphabet cereal to spell out the story for him whenever he took a bite… at least they meant to, according to Sirius. Every time he grabbed a spoonful, the letters would read out the words 'spooky' and 'creepy', and on a rare occasion, 'Happy Halloween.'

"We got it from one of those old seasonal charm books." Said Peter, as they all gathered around to watch him eat, making him wary to enjoy his birthday breakfast as well as effectively ruining any surprise. Of course, them huddling over his bowl after he poured it and before he even got a chance to eat it was enough of a giveaway, but he knew he'd go mad if he didn't at least play along with the antics. "I think we did alright."

"I think it's brilliant." Said Remus, who kept dipping his spoon in and out to see how many combinations he could get. "Thanks guys."

"Ah, don't thank us until after you've seen lunch and dinner." Said Sirius. "Happy birthday, anyway." They all laughed and James clapped him on the shoulder.

His parents sent Ezra with a package as well for him that morning. The muggle chocolates were always welcome from his mother, and his father sent him a much more impressive book for his moon whistle, along with a note from both of them that read:

 _You only become a teenager once. Happy Birthday xoxo_

 _Love Mum and Dad._

He had to fight the urge of bouncing in his seat, as he couldn't wait to play along the first chance he got. His friends all rolled their eyes at the fact that he got excited about receiving a book for his birthday.

.

Even though the warm weather brought along exam preparation and grueling assignments for them all, it also brought along the melted snow, blooming flowers, and plenty of opportunities for the boys to spend time preparing and spending time together by the Black Lake bank they helped James practice for being seeker. They always had to claim the spot early so no one else took their prime rocks for skipping, or their tall shady tree for relaxing, but it was always well worth it. While Sirius and James tried to see who could get their stones to skid the most, Peter napped next to Remus, who was busy practicing with is moon whistle while he was giving his brain a break from the dozen of incantations and theories. Of course, he never got father than a sputtering tweeting noise much like what he imagined an injured bird would make.

Their time together literally and figuratively separated them from everyone else. It was like no one else existed and they could enjoy each other's company. In some of those moments Remus even considered Thalia's advice in telling them about himself, but every time he thought he was close, he'd get scared. It wasn't worth ruining the bubble of happiness he had with his friends. It was also nice to spend more than an hour with no one talking about or mentioning the forest or the Hollow.

"I don't see how turning things into badgers is ever supposed to help us in life." James said as he plopped down, helping himself to one of the many sandwiches they packed. "I mean, when will we ever _use_ that?" They all laughed, including Remus who was scratching his head with the end of a pencil to circle his notes before he responded.

"I think the idea that makes it useful. Being able to trans—"

"God, you sound like Evans." James said, waving his hand.

"Give us a break. We didn't grow up around this stuff." Remus retorted, not looking up at him yet still giving a defensive tone.

"Oh, he's got a point." Shouted Sirius, who was still concentrating on skipping stones.

"What I don't understand is how you can be so alike with your, you know, studying, but I find her utterly intolerable."

"Hey now, don't go using big words just to impress Remus." Sirius cut in again, making the rest of them laugh, especially Peter, who seemed particularly amused.

"But I like it when he uses big words…"

"I bet Lily would like those big words too." Said Peter quietly, but not quietly enough to catch everyone's attention and different reactions. James and Remus looks completely horrified, though Remus was sure for different reasons as he felt a pang of jealousy where he was sure James felt disgust. Sirius on the other hand looked completely amused and soon after gave a very distinct and proud laugh after a few moments to break the tension.

Remus wasn't sure he would be talking to Lily the same with that notion running through the back of his mind. Thankfully he'd have the head start… not that it was a contest.

The four of them didn't stay around the lake much longer after that. The early spring air was turning brisk as the sun went down, and with the stricter rules on curfew and outdoors activities, none of them wanted to risk detention out of the sheer inconvenience on missing out on the much nicer weather. As they turned over the hill towards the castle, the breeze picked up and swept a scent to Remus while the other three were mid-conversation with each other. When it first hit him, he didn't think too much of it until the familiarity of it set in, though he could not place where. Initially it made him think of bread hinted with citrus… but it was the part of it that smelled like home that made him turn his head in the direction of the forest.

"You alright mate?" Peter asked first.

"Nothing, why?" He replied quickly, not realising that what he said didn't even really make sense.

"…You're staring really hard at nothing."

"Ahh, maybe it's the Hollow projecting a very _evil_ and _alluring_ magic to you." Laughed James, wiggling his fingers.

"God, don't even start." Said Remus. He gave one more look towards the forest before ultimately shrugging it off to the fact that the full moon was making his senses flare again. It wouldn't have been the first time they made him detect things that weren't there.

.

Remus stayed back in the Great Hall for dinner while the other three went upstairs. It'd become a bit of a pattern around the full moon that he took to so they didn't get too used to his presence before he'd be gone ill. Judging by how quickly they'd comply, he was satisfied to see it was working. He kicked his feet over the bench and filled his plate. He always leaned towards the redder meats even though they were always cooked through far too much for his taste.

"Do you think they've figured it out yet?" Said the voice of Severus Snape coming from behind Remus. He wanted to turn his head to look, but quickly suppressed the urge when he heard the voice of Sterling Avery speak in response.

"Nah. If they'd figured _that_ out, we'd be talking about the who rather than the why."

"I think it'd just a load of rubbish." The voice of Blake Sparrow joined in afterwards. "The fact it's still going around is embarrassing. It's not like there's been rumours of anyone going back."

"I don't think you understand, Sparrow." Said Severus, surprisingly sounding less monotonous than usual. "People don't just walk into Hogwarts like it's Diagon Alley. The grounds are a part of that, even the forest." Remus began chewing a little slower and quieter.

"That all sounds very intense, but it doesn't explain why anyone would want to get in." Avery replied, sounding annoyed. Remus felt his stomach lurch and tighten when he found himself in agreement with Sterling.

"The reason why could be anything." Said Blake. "That's why it doesn't matter, it was _months_ ago."

"Oh no, it's like I keep saying, the reason why is very clear—"

"Here he goes…" Snape sighed.

"Don't give me that. What else would it be? The forest is a death trap. If someone was going in to let whatever's in there put them out of their misery, we wouldn't know anything about it." He brought his voice down again. "It's the _Hollow_ in those woods they were after. It has to be." Mingled with the exasperated sighs from the other two boys sitting with Sterling, Remus couldn't help stifling a snicker. Even after his conversation with Dumbledore, he felt he had harder evidence of anything resembling a fairy tale residing in the forest than Avery did, so it was hard to take him seriously knowing he was just basing what he heard from everyone else. "Something funny to you, Lupin?"

"Mm-mm, no." He replied instinctively, coughing immediately after being called out.

"No no, please share your thoughts if you've been nosy."

"Just leave it, Avery—" Said Blake a little too late as Sterling was already waving his hand off at him.

"Come on Lupin, I'm sure that you'd have a much better idea, wouldn't you?"

"Sterling—" another hand wave silenced Blake.

"Being a half-blood must mean you've got a whole new perspective. Tell us, have you written home and told about all of this to dear old dad? Better yet, what does your little muggle mother have to say about it all?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm and his tone was patronising, and Remus felt his fist clench tightly around his spoon. "Probably nothing useful I'm sure—" Before he knew it Remus was on his feet with the worst tunnel vision focusing directly on Avery's face, which was now level with his since he'd stood up as well to match.

"Don't." Remus said behind gritted teeth.

"Didn't know you were such a tough guy without your friends around." He prodded a finger against Remus' shoulder. "What are you going to do? Hit me? Go crying to the hospital wing again. We can see who's gotten better at jinxes since we had defense class together if you'd like."

"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" Said professor McGonagall in a stern voice, catching both of them by surprise. Remus had been so caught up in the moment that he didn't even see or hear her coming.

"No problem here, professor." Avery said, taking a step away from Remus while the two of them still keeping their eyes fixed on each other. McGonagall raised her eyebrows and looked to Remus, looking for further confirmation from him more to secure that whatever altercation was brewing was going to come to an abrupt end.

"Excellent. I was thinking I'd need to start taking away points or handing out detentions, so thank you for being gracious enough for saving me the trouble. Besides, I'm sure Mr. Sparrow and Mr. Snape were prepared to intervene should things have taken a more dramatic turn." Their eyes all turned to the two Slytherin's sitting down in silence, who were both distracting themselves with their own eating utensils to avoid being involved with the situation as much as they could.

Having now lost his appetite, Remus excused himself and headed towards the exit of the Great Hall to rejoin his friends in the Gryffindor common room. With every footstep he felt himself get more annoyed with how upset Avery made him. He spent most of the year avoiding him because of the way he could get under his skin, and yet he still knew how to push Remus' buttons. He was just beginning to think that perhaps he was doomed with Sterling as a thorn in his side forever when he noticed something strange from the corner of his eye, and the smell of firewood that was unique with another sharp twinge of what he could only think of as charcoal. that made it different than the one from the Great Hall, crashed into him like a tidal wave.

There was someone wearing a large black cloak at the entrance of the castle. He stood atop the stairs as their back was turned towards him, as he experienced the most unnerving sense of déjà vu. The section of the castle wasn't exactly teeming with students, but how could no one have seen them? They weren't wearing student robes, so surely they would have stood out. Perhaps there was some sort of enchantment. It was the only thing that could explain why a castle completely on edge over a break in months ago would overlook such an obvious anomaly. But if that were the case, why wasn't it working on him? Perhaps it wasn't obvious…? Was this a case again of his senses exerting themselves in a way that only seemed to trick his own mind?

No, that couldn't have been it… he knew what he was looking at. His sense made him more acute, not more insane. Nevertheless, countless other questions reeled through his brain as they took the shape of the mysterious werewolf man he encountered his last school year, but before he could rationalise any of it, they began to move out of the door. At first his knees were buckled from his memory as he thought of the man's face, and his dark eyes, as he was sure they were under the hood of his cloak. Like a switch, his good sense to grab a teacher occurred to him, and he turned on his heel into a brisk walk back into the Great Hall to professor McGonagall. Then he stopped again and turned to go back towards the staircase to ascend to the third floor. It made more sense to get the headmaster… he was the final word of it all, and who better to deal with a potentially dangerous force than him?

He climbed the stairs with so much purpose that his mind was too focused to even bother counting the steps he was skipping to rush to the headmaster's corridor. Keeping up the pace, he only stopped himself when he reached the branch of corridors, one leading to the headmaster's office, and the other leading to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. In a wild moment of thinking, he headed towards the latter. Professor Folly was supposed to be a specialist in this sort of thing, more practiced. Why else would Dumbledore appoint her if not for this exact situation? To take care of dark forces at work when he would otherwise be occupied and not as readily available? It was after all easier to knock on a door rather than get guest rights to a spiraling staircase to a tower.

"Professor?" He said loudly, knocking on her door and bouncing on the balls of his feet in anxiety. "Professor, please I need to talk to you." There was no answer. He knew it was well passed dark outside and after hours, but if the teachers would be found anywhere at this time of night it was in their respective classrooms. When he looked down, he noticed the door was slightly ajar, and his urgency drew him to open it. There was no answer because it was empty. It seemed obvious, but there was something deeply wrong about it that wasn't settling with him, but he didn't have time to think on it.

Remus realised he made the wrong decision in going to her classroom, and he wouldn't have time to reach Dumbledore before losing the track of whoever was leaving the castle. He especially wouldn't have the luxury of waltzing through the front door. With the scent still lingering on the tip of his nose, he rushed out of the classroom down to the first floor where he could use the exit through the hospital wing. He only hoped Madam Pomfrey kept herself as busy as professor Folly so he wouldn't run into her. It would have been a lot of time saved on what he'd need too much time at this point to explain, and he resigned himself to dwelling on the guilt of abusing their specialised exit at another time.

.

Every step he felt his sneakers slipping into the grass beyond the castle walls was telling him how horrible of an idea this was. He was following the direction of a faint smell into a forest that was explicitly forbidden in its name _and_ its nature, which was at minimum going to get him expelled. Oh yes, expelled for sure… but it'd be worth it if he could stop the man that tore his teacher to shreds. He wasn't going to let anyone else be a victim unless it was himself. It was after all his fault that Professor Zilar was dead. If he hadn't gotten involved with the mess with the book, he wouldn't have had to reveal himself as a retired werewolf hunter… and if he didn't reveal himself, he wouldn't have felt the need to task Remus with holding onto the book, meaning he wouldn't have needed to go into the forest and be slaughtered.

He stopped his feet at the entrance, and he looked up at the border of trees before committing to stepping in. There was no turning back. He thought about how it was an interesting metaphor of walking into complete insanity as he entered the wood.

.

"Lumos" He whispered, the tip of his wand shimmering into a bright light so that he could see where he was going. He kept his focus on the smell, even though the forest had it's own unique and diverse palette of scents, many of which wanted to make him vomit from the sensory overload, but he needed to focus.

 _Firewood… charcoal… breathe._

Sometime the smell was stronger in different directions, but he knew it would all ultimately lead to the one place they were. The roots lining the ground were getting thicker and wilder than towards the entrance, which now that he turned his head around was completely gone. He stepped on and snapped a twig and thought something was following him. He turned around quickly and was glad to discover that his wand was drawn at nothing, thought when he looked down at the ground again, he noticed the tendrils weren't staying in the same place for long if at all… the forest floor was moving.

 _Firewood… charcoal… breathe._

He reached a small clearing the size of a bedroom, only to discover that there were more noises than the sound of his footsteps in the foliage. The sounds of things that were alive and lurking... or perhaps even waiting. He looked down to the lit tip of his wand and hopelessly sighed. He tried keeping his mind focused on one overloaded sense at a time, but any hope that he had of not being alone would soon be dampened if he such a bright beacon on himself. He stopped in his tracks and lowered his wand.

"Nox…" He whispered and closed his eyes. His wand flickered out, and the fear in his heart capped out so far that he was sure it'd gone full-circle into reckless bravery. It oddly made him think of Professor Folly. " _Firewood… charcoal… breathe."_ He said aloud now, keeping his toned hushed to give him the reassurance now that he was still alive. Traversing the forest alone after all was a terrible, _terrible_ idea, so any comfort he could give himself at this point was welcome.

When he opened his eyes again, his vision became sharper and clearer in the dark and he was immediately met with a large black bird perched on a reaching branch towards him, making him jump. His first instinct was thinking how late it'd been for any sort of bird to be awake, let alone staring at him with what he realised now were bright glowing blue eyes. He then realised where he was and what he was doing, and slowly came to the conclusion that this wasn't any regular sort of bird, and the fact that it had an extra set of glowing eyes wasn't as shocking to him. It was a pretty bird to look at, and Remus found himself tilting his head to get a closer look at it while it ruffled it's own feathers. He could hear a trace of an errant thought drift to the moon whistle.

"Hello…" He whispered, wanting now to reach out and touch it. After a few moments, the bird mimicked him and greeted back in a crow-like version of Remus' voice with a squawk at the end. Its glowing blue eyes flitted around quickly before focusing back to him, now completely fixed. "You haven't seen anyone strange lurking around the forest, have you?"

"Have you." it repeated back, tilting its head opposite of Remus'. It squawked loudly this time, making Remus jump again as the notion seemed more aggressive than the first. Another crow voice repeated the words, making Remus whip his head around quickly to see another set of blue eyes gaze at him from another branch nearby. Another bird? Just as he was going to ask himself how many there had been, more and more dots and specks of blue appeared repeated each other on the branches of the surrounding trees. Remus was thankful that he still had out his wand, but still swallowed hard as he concentrated heavily on not making any sudden movements as he could feel what seemed like hundreds of tiny eyes boring holes into his sweater.

He slowly took a step back from the original and still closest of the crows, taking a deep breath to find an avenue of escape since the unsettling feeling he got in the middle of them all began to surface. Though he was shaking, he had to fight the urge not to run as he thought of tiny beaks and talons clawing at him should he cause a disturbance. As he stepped, he felt his foot contact and crunch something harder and brittle, only to notice upon looking down that he'd crunched bone.

The noise had been enough to make them swarm. When he looked up, the blur of blue spots disoriented him as he found himself swatting away the crows with his hands and wand. Whenever he felt the claws or beaks breaking skin, a reverb came from the flock around him to repeat his cries of pain.

 _Run._ He thought, coming to his wits and gripping his wand tight in hand to bolt forth. He moved much quicker than he thought possible into the unknown forest, still hearing the beating wings and squawks and dissonant echoes of his own cries of pain all around him. He'd been moving fast, but not fast enough as he could still feel pecking at his legs and exposed skin of his face and arms.

" _Incendio!_ "He shouted after blinding aiming his wand behind him and still sprinting, the weak fireball only hitting a trunk of a nearby tree and making the bark recoil in a way that seemed like it were alive. " _Incendio!"_ The second spell made contact with a small cluster of them, and their wings reduced to smolders and embers, sending them tumbling to the ground. There wasn't room to feel accomplished since when a few of them fell, more were ready to take their place.

He forced himself to think as quickly as he'd been moving when he focused his attention back forward, jumping and dodging rogue branches while trying to put as much distance between him and the sound of violent fluttering wings and screeches. Remus knew he wouldn't be able to keep moving for much longer, as he could feel his chest begin to tighten and his legs start to grow weary.

"Oh!" He said out loud, and idea striking him and stopping his running to turn around to face the flock. The distance he gave himself was enough to prepare as he waited for the blue specks to approach, his wand drawn. They swarmed around again, circling him completely making him feel the stinging in his face when he pointed his wand in the air and shouted, " _Immobulus!"_

There was a bright flash. When he opened his eyes, the birds were all suspended as if they were underwater, still able to make noise, but completely still. He gave out a small and exasperated chuckle at his success. Now that they were completely harmless, he quite enjoyed looking at them before he keeled over feeling more than a little winded. How far had he run? The way the trees were passing him in such a blur made him think he'd covered more ground than normal. He stood up straight again and looked around to try to gain a sense of vague direction before taking out his wand again and holding it in the open palm of his hand, hearing his father's voice echo in his ears about a spell that every lost wizard should know.

" _Point Me."_ He said in a scratchy voice since his throat had still been so dry. Remus wand spun and pointed to his left… He'd been going east, and still away from the castle. As if delayed, the crows all began to repeat his spell in their sing-song voice, reminding him that they'd still been there. He kept his eyes fixed on his wand. Would he be able to even escape this place now that he'd been so far in? Then again, he wasn't quite sure just how deep in the forest he was.

.

There was a loud thud as something smacked Remus across the his back, sending him falling forward onto the ground with a loud 'oof.' _What now?_ He thought, turning around on his back only to see a large swinging branch coming towards him, only just giving him enough time to roll over to avoid it crushing him. The trees had been alive like the Whomping Willow, and the memory of the living wood flashed in front of him from his time spent there as a werewolf. He scrambled to his feet and began running again, seeing the branches flail around and batting the birds around, sending them flying in various directions as if the flock were making a disturbance. Between the sound of wood creaking and the crow's screeches, Remus didn't want to stick around to see what happened next.

Despite all of the excitement, Remus took a deep breath in again to calm his nerves and remember his mission. He was thankful the scent had grown much stronger now since the metallic and acidic smell of his own blood was mingled in the air. In fact, the original scent was so strong now; it made him crinkle his nose at its potency. When he looked in the direction it was coming from, he thought to himself how close he must have been. Trying hard not to pay attention to the stinging sensation in his cut face and hands, he walked through the thick brush, keeping his wand drawn and still unlit as to not draw anymore unwanted attention to himself.

The scent was almost overwhelming now. He knew he had to be close enough to taste, and he felt his heart rate pick up and skin tighten. The only thing obscuring what was in front of him now was a thick brush of tree branches that stood directly in his path. He lifted his hand to move it out of the way, but he hesitated. It was the first time he really had to stop and think about what he was doing and what may happen to him.

Was he even ready for something like this? Or for any kind of showdown at all? He'd only even had short bursts of encounters with the man and one of them literally left his protector in pieces. All he had to defend himself were his basic repitoire of spells since the only real defense mechanism he had, wouldn't be useful but for another few days, which in itself wouldn't have truly been too useful since the man was also a werewolf. His own thoughts answered his question for him… of course he wasn't ready. He'd run belligerently into the dark forest hoping for he knew not what. Now he was left with the difficult choice of staying and facing him, or turning around and running back to the castle, which at this point he wasn't sure he'd make it back to since he knew he must have been miles deep into the wood by now… and he certainly was not the most dangerous thing in the forest anymore.

"It's here." He heard a strained voice whisper from beyond the thick brush. Remus immediately snapped all of his focus into listening now, not daring to make a sound. "It's hidden… but it's here. I'm sure of it. I will perform the enchantments." There was movement, and then muttering of charms and spells that Remus had never heard before. There was also someone else. Another set of footfalls that were much more shallow and moving more quickly. There was another scent that he'd not even noticed since he was so focused on the man's. He felt his heart pounding vigorously in his chest now that he could hardly breathe, and with a shaky hand moved the thick brush out of the way to see.

.

Just as he feared, there were two figures standing at the end of the clearing. One of them was walking around in a large circle still casting the enchantments, and the other was standing still and watching. Remus nose was so accustomed to searching for the original scent, that he found it difficult to even isolate this equally as mysterious addition.

With another surprising lurch, the enchantments began producing results in the form of a small quake and an ominous glow coming from the middle of the clearing on the ground. From where he was standing it looked like a sinkhole was forming, but instead of opening up the ground, it was filling with liquid. Remus had to keep himself from audibly gasping. He wouldn't have believed his eyes if he weren't witnessing it all for himself. He was watching the Hollow form in front of him… and then all he could hear was the gypsy woman's prophecy echoing in his mind.

 _The Hollow is in danger… The Hollow mustn't be disturbed… The Grimoire pages will blank…_ He had to do something. He had to think of a plan. He had—

"I see our guest has decided to join us." Said a familiar voice that immediately brought Remus' attention back into the moment. In an instant, he felt himself being lunged forward as if there were a hook tied to his clothing reeling him in quickly into the hands of the tall hooded figure. Even in the dark he could see that he hands gripping him now by the shirt weren't gloved… and they were not the hands of a man. They were however, reeking of the scent he'd followed. When he looked up to see their face, their other hand dropped the hood, revealing the large and striking features of Professor Folly. Though her eyes were hooded, he could see they also had a milky tinge in the dark, but unmistakably hers. Remus felt his insides slump and wretch, feeling that he could vomit at any moment. _It'd happened again_. "I thought you wouldn't have it in you to even leave the castle… and look at you now. Made it through the forest without a scratch on you." He tried prying himself free when he felt her hands burn his skin where they touched. "Ah ah. You came all this way for a front row seat, didn't you?" The burn soothed itself on his shoulder and Professor Folly began walking him over to the figure stood on the other side of the clearing. "What to do with the nosy mongrel boy…" She mused. Remus looked to the center and saw the Hollow water, glowing bright and invitingly in a perfect circular pool.

"Nothing just yet." Said the other in a soft and serene tone. This voice shattered him because he knew it. Horrified, he looked forward to them, watching as their hands lifted the hood over their head to reveal a rounded face framed with blonde fringe and pigtails, tinged green by the reflection of the glowing pool they were stood next to.

"Thalia?" said Remus in a small and heartbroken voice.


	11. Through the Rabbit Hole

**Chapter Eleven**

 **Through the Rabbit Hole**

He knew for sure he would be sick now. Looking at the sweet and innocent face of his friend now in a position that was far too incriminating to ignore, Remus couldn't help himself from asking her why aloud. When she didn't answer right away, he felt that instead of hurt and disappointment, there was something more akin to anger stirring his insides.

"Don't worry," She started, still staying in the same spot and maintaining her dreamlike tone. "It will be over soon."

"Over?" He asked incredulously. "What will be over?"

He watched her as her gaze drew from him to the Hollow. He turned his head to follow and could see it from a better angle from where the professor dragged him. It didn't seem like much. It reminded him of a small pool that he might have played in when he was smaller since it didn't seem to be much bigger than to be able to hold maybe a person or two at a time without overflowing. The glowing water reflected into the clearing, giving everything its light touched a strange and sickly hue of green and blue. When he turned his head back towards Thalia, she'd been looking at him in the eyes, and Remus could now clearly see they'd lost their forget-me-not hue and instead bore something more icy and sinister. He felt a chill that had little to do with the cool spring air as he could sense something not right about her… something broken.

Professor Folly gave Remus a jerk and let him go, leaving him stood next to Thalia as she walked towards the center. The closer she stepped, the water seemed to recede away similar to the way waves would on a shore. She let out a frustrated sigh and began waving her wand, casting more enchantments. Remus looked back over to Thalia, whose eyes remained transfixed as if she were in a daydream. He waved his hand in front of her face and her gaze remained unmoved. Was this what someone looked like when they were bewitched?

"Is this what you've been up to in those private tutoring sessions together?" He called out to the professor, who was still pacing and casting enchantments across the way. "Sneaking off here, chasing fairy tales—"

"In case you haven't noticed, what you're looking at is completely real." She answered back curtly. There were small disturbances in the air whenever she waved her wand, and Remus could almost feel the magic radiating on his skin. Whatever spells she was casting were definitely working on _something._ "To be honest, those 'tutoring sessions' turned out to be very convenient for the end result. Silly little girl… so foolish."

Remus felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck until he realised he was only getting upset with himself. Even though her comment was directed at Thalia, who for the most part was still unresponsive aside from watching the enchantments breach whatever protective field was covering the Hollow, Remus still couldn't help feeling that he was the foolish one. At least the two of them came into the forest prepared… and with a plan.

"Is that why you've come all this way then?" He asked, now beginning to raise his voice as the sting of betrayal was still fresh. "To find a well of dark magic and keep it all for yourself?" Professor Folly turned to look at him now. The shards of whatever barrier was protecting the Hollow began to fall around it from thing air, as if there were a thin glass veil shattering piece by piece.

"No. As I've said on the first day of classes, I originally came to mold the minds of young witches and wizards." She began walking towards him, and he noticed the water would not recede now as she neared it.

"I didn't think you meant literally…" He replied bitterly.

"I suppose you've learned the most important lesson I can teach you then in assuming the worst of people."

"Why involve her, then? What will all of this achieve?"

"It wouldn't be wise to reveal all of the tricks. Like I said, you'll have a front row seat. You'll find out soon enough."

Remus could feel the fear bubbling inside of him, as he was quite certain that finding out was last on the list of things he wanted at the present moment. He looked back to Thalia, whose eyes were now fixed on the Hollow. Any hope he had of having her help for stalling whatever was to come was whittled away with her blank yet focused expression.

"Nothing's wrong with her." Said Folly as she tucked her own wand away. "She's probably just deep in thought. She has quite the task ahead of her."

She turned on her heel towards the pool of glowing liquid and crouched down so that Remus and Thalia would be able to see what she was doing. Remus swallowed hard as he waited for what seemed like a lifetime, when she finally made a motion with her hands to scoop the liquid into her mouth. Remus could tell he was gripping his wand so tightly that he practically couldn't feel his fingers anymore. He was watching a dark witch at work and he was powerless to do anything about it. He looked over to Thalia who was still watching, but was now muttering incomprehensibly under her own breath. He'd been so distracted by her doing something other than staring vacantly that the blood-curdling scream that came from the professor caught him completely off-guard.

.

When he looked back forward, professor Folly was clutching the sides of her head and now on her back, writhing on the ground from what he could tell was terrible agony. Without thinking, he dropped his wand and sprinted over to her. When he got within several feet, he rebounded back as if there were an invisible rubber shield around her and was completely winded from landed on his own back. When he was finally able to catch his breath, Remus propped himself up on his elbows to watch on helplessly as the terror unfolded.

Her screams and cries of pain continued and echoed, making the forest beyond the clearing stir. She dragged her nails down her face leaving welts in their wake, and from her mouth came a glowing light matching in colour what was emanating from the pool. The light seemed to muffle her screams and it poured out of her like smoke, and the same thing began happening to her eyes. It was almost too much to bear witnessing, but Remus couldn't keep himself from looking away until he assumed her lungs gave out and she laid motionless on the ground.

"P-professor?" He said, fearing the worst. He stood up to walk towards her again warily, until he realised that whatever was keeping him from approaching her had since dissipated. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth slightly agape, still leaking tuft of smoky light when he crouched down beside her to get a better look. "Professor?" He repeated again, reaching out a timid hand to touch her when she sat up quickly and grabbed him by the wrist and gasping loudly for air. He'd been so startled and scared that Remus swore his heart missed a beat.

"Where?!"" She cried, her eyes till closed. When she opened them slowly, she looked directly at Remus, and he witnessed the horrible sight of the complete clouding over of her irises. There was no trace of the warm brown left, but only a complete milky white hinted with the same glow of the pool beside them. It took a few moments of watching her search his eyes and drift over and around the clearing for him to realise that she could not see. Her sobs were dry from the strain she'd made on her voice. She felt his face and he knew he'd been right. "Who? Who?!"

"R-Remus!" He stuttered, confused. He thought it have been obvious, but perhaps the trauma of what's just happened… Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that there wasn't something right. "It's Remus Lupin—" Her eyes searched the sky now, and she still felt around with one hand clutching Remus and the other clutching the ground.

"Is he here? Is he with us?" Tears began welling in her eyes.

"Is who with us professor? It's only the three of us, you, me, and Thal—" Before he could finish she jerked his face towards hers so that their noses were only inches apart. Considering how shallow his breathing had been for the passed couple of minutes, he wouldn't have been surprised if he passed out from lack of oxygen if she continued to breathe his air for much longer. She opened her mouth to answer his question when she jumped, being startled by something unseen to him.

"The Hollow mustn't be disturbed. Protect the Hollow or the Moon and the Stars will tear. The Grimoire pages will blank and the universe as it is written will cease to exist." She took a few shallow breaths before letting him go, allowing him the freedom to give himself space from her. "I've seen it…" She whispered.

"The Grimoire? What about it? What will happen if the pages blank?" Remus asked, as he now felt an odd mixture mix of excitement and anxiety.

"Time. Beasts. Blood. Time. Beasts. Blood…" She began mumbling to herself, pushing away from Remus to settle facing herself away from him and the Hollow and rocking herself back and forth as she cradled her head. She repeated this a few times before Remus was finally able to get her attention. "How can I stop it?" She stopped rocking and looping her words and turned her head slightly over her shoulder to address him.

"You can't." She said somberly with a harsh finality to her voice before going back to looping the same words, clinging to her chanting desperately. _Time. Beasts. Blood._ He looked behind him to the still glowing pool, barely moving and looking completely auspicious as if it didn't just cause one of the most horrifying things he'd ever witnessed.

Remus stood to his feet again, unsure of what to do next. With a blinded and slowly unwinding Professor along with a catatonic classmate, he didn't know how he was going to be able to get himself back to the castle, let alone bring them with him. He reached down to where he originally dropped his wand and picked it up. He'd have to figure out a way to signal his position, and hope that someone had been looking towards the forest. All that was left after that was explaining how he ended up in a place explicitly forbidden for anyone to enter, especially him. The punishments he devised in his mind made detention seem like a cakewalk, especially when expulsion from school was a very harsh and foreboding reality.

He knew the spell of course, to send the sparks into the sky. The woman now crouched on the ground had told them to use it if they ever found themselves lost, like a beacon. He began to say it, but hesitated. He didn't want what would come next, the disappointment from his friends that he'd be kicked out of school, the headmaster who worked so hard to conceal his secret and give him the opportunity, and his parents, who only ever wanted the best for him. He felt the tickle of a tear fall down his cheek, and then he took a deep breath with his wand pointed at the sky.

" _Peric—_ " The sound of leaves rustling in rhythm behind him interrupted him. When he turned his head, he saw Thalia taking strides to the pool. "No!" He shouted, turning around too quickly and tripping over himself. Remus tried recovering quickly to catch up to her before she suffered the same fate as Folly. He caught up to her at the edge of the pool and grabbed her arms. Thalia lifted her hand to his chest to push him back, and Remus could feel his grip slacken. Her hands were like ice, and even against the fabric of his sweater he could feel their chill. When she looked at him, he felt a sense of hopelessness in stopping her from whatever she was about to do. She gazed into his eyes again, and what happened next came so fast, Remus didn't have time to react properly until her heard the splash of her body hitting the water.

 _No._ He thought, scrambling when he came to enough to try and figure out how to get her out. The water was clear, but he couldn't see her. He tried reaching into the water to feel around for her, but it was no use. But the water was warm… _inviting_ even. He thought of Peter in that moment. How he told him that it was the point of dark magic to lure him in. To make him think that it was something good when it was something awful.

But this wasn't for him; it was for Thalia. He didn't want what the Hollow had to offer, only what it took away. In a moment of wild thinking, he dove into the warm liquid, seeking only to find his friend and bring her to the surface with him. If he could bring her back untouched, he would send a thousand sparks in the sky and risk the expulsion a hundred times over. No one else was going to die because of him.

 _x-x-x_

There was warmth, there was light, and then it was dark and cool again. He wasn't swimming, but falling. Falling so fast and far, that he dared not open his eyes. When he landed, it wasn't painful, or crushing, or anything that made sense with his descent. It was as if right before he reached the ground, he became feather light and glided until his feet made contact with what he realised was more foliage. Had he been back in the forest? He dared not open his eyes straight away. Was he dead? Did death feel like more cool spring air? He took a deep breath and winked one eye open first to see the blurry outline of Thalia unconscious on the ground. He rushed over to her and turned her facing up? _Please don't be dead._ He thought, feeling her face and checking her pulse in places Madam Pomfrey would do for him to make sure he was okay. There was movement. _Yes._

"Thalia?" He said softly, moving her shoulder to jostle her awake. "Thalia, wake up. It's me, Remus." She moaned a bit and moved at being stirred.

"R-Remus?" She repeated, her voice being one of the most reassuring things to happen to him that entire day, and it'd been a _long_ day indeed. Her eyes fluttered open, and the familiar blue hue that they'd been before he met her in the forest seemed to have returned, along with the colour slowly coming back into her face. She smiled at first, but it seemed that once she had a moment to truly come to, she sat up straight so fast that she almost head-butted Remus in the process.

"Where are we?" She asked him, sounding more worried than he'd ever heard her before. The complete contrast of her dreamy tone he heard from what now seemed like a lifetime ago. She looked around frantically, turning her head at every little sound of leaves crunching, most of which was caused by both of them. He put a hand on her shoulder to help calm her, doing his best not to match her worried tone.

"You should take it easy for a sec. We just fell—"

"Where are we, Remus?" She interrupted, her voice cracking. She searched his eyes and he knew he wouldn't have any hope of trying to reassure her with a lie. Before he thought about his answer, Remus looked around him at the dark and dense forest surrounding them. It looked the same as the dark forest they just left, only they didn't seem to be in the clearing anymore, and professor Folly was gone.

"I... I don't know. The forest? I think?" He replied honestly. It was as confident as he could be. He did after all recognise the bizarre shape of the trees and sounds emanating from the wood. But still, as he predicted, this didn't reassure her as she began to stand shakily to her feet. Rightfully so, it seemed to be a case of moving from the frying pan and into the fire. She didn't seem to be aware of what happened at all. Would she have mentioned it at all? Should he have? "Listen, Thalia..." He started, getting to his own feet as well. "I don't know exactly what's happened, but we need to find our way back."

"Right... Okay." She nodded, and he was grateful for the first shred of cooperation. "Where is the way back then?" And like a bubble, his optimism popped from existence. He had no idea except that he'd been heading east from the castle to get to the clearing. He pulled out his wand and muttered the spell to make it spin on his hand like the needle of a compass.

.

"We need to head this way." He pointed behind him. "If we are in the dark forest, we have to head back to the castle where it's safe."

"Lead the way." She nodded in reply.

The silence between them as they walked through the forest was uncomfortable to say the least. He almost wished the sadistic birds would come back to attack him if it meant something other than baring through it and leaving him to his own thoughts along the way. The forest however, seemed uncharacteristically stagnant. The only hint of any kind of movement was the docile swaying of the living wood, and the only sound was the wind whispering through their leaves.

He half-expected Yuna's pack, the group of werewolves native to the forest, to make themselves present at that point. Perhaps they were protecting them from the dangers of the forest. He would have like to have thought so since they seemed to be the only benign werewolf he'd come to contact with especially since she helped him. He wondered if she knew the Hollow was in the woods, and if the true purpose of her pack was to protect it. The only hole in his theory was that if that were the case, surely they would have stopped professor Folly from finding it in the first place.

"Remus?" Thalia piped up in a small voice. Thankful for the distraction of his own thoughts, he turned his head slightly to let her know he'd been listening. "Something's been bothering me."

"Mhm?" He responded.

"How did I get into the forest?" He stopped dead in his tracks, making her bump into him. "Oh, sorry—"

"Do you not remember anything?" He asked, cutting off her apology. She shook her head sheepishly, almost like she didn't want to answer him honestly, but the burn of not knowing proving to be more painful. He began recounting for her, starting from when he saw the hooded figure at the castle entrance to up until the point of finding the two of them in the forest. What happened passed that he hesitated to say aloud as it would force him to see the images of professor Folly screaming and clawing at her eyes. For her sake, he continued, not tentatively gauging her reaction as they walked along.

"All of that sounds... Awful." She said finally. It was clear to him that Thalia really had no recollection at all... It was worrying to say the least.

"And you're sure you don't remember any of it."

"I would hope I could remember at least that. I don't think I've had enough time to block it out since it happened and for however long we've been walking." He gave a dry laugh. "So it really does exist then... The Hollow."

"Yeah. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I didn't see it with my own eyes. And you know, dive into it with my own... Body."

"This isn't anything like I would have expected it to be though. I've just… you know, heard stories. Are we still in the pool?"

"No idea. I don't feel wet, and I can breathe."

"Do you think it just transported us then?"

"That's what seems the most likely. What else could it mean?" He asked, mainly rhetorically but also to himself. The truth was he'd been trying to rationalize why he'd landed in the forest again as well, but there was only room for one major mystery to solve in his mind at a time.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into all this."

"It's okay. Not your fault." He shrugged, and she gave him a weak smile. "I'm sure if things were reversed you'd have done the same for... Me…" There was a bright flash of white coming from above the canopy of trees in the direction they were walking that mesmerized him. She'd seen it too, as both of them now we're standing to watch as the light dissipated into the night air. From what he saw, it had to have come from something massive. "Come on, we've got to be close now." Remus would have been more concerned that they'd gone through a good-sized portion of the forest without any problems, but he wasn't complaining.

Nothing could have prepared them for the sight when they finally reached the break in the trees. His assumption in assuming they were heading towards Hogwarts was correct since the castle was stood in the night in all of its majesty, but there was something else happening. There was a shell around the castle that was slowly cracking; similar to the way professor Folly's enchantments broke through an invisible shield to access the Hollow. It was as if there were a protective eggshell that was slowly cracking and falling apart. It had a beautiful sort of discord to it, but the unsettling feeling of watching it made him wary.

"What's wrong with the castle?" asked Remus. He didn't think they'd have been gone so long that there was enough time for anything too dramatic to happen.

"Look. There's something in front." Said Thalia, pointing at the bridge leading into the courtyard of the grounds. It seemed there were lines and lines of from where they were standing looked like organized rows of large men.

"They kind of look like soldiers." He responded, before she shook her head and pointed not to the bridge, but rather the large mass that was approaching it. They were people but they most certainly were not soldiers. Spells began flying from the mass and hitting the figures on the bridge, which Remus could tell by the rate that they were crumbling, were made of stone. They were being attacked… the _school_ was being attacked. When he looked passed the large group of people heading into the forest, he could see that beyond them to the other break in the trees of the forest, that other things were emerging. Large bloated people came out first, which he only ever knew from his textbooks were trolls and giants, followed by spiders the size of large dogs.

He felt a lump in his throat as he thought about his friends. James, Sirius, and Peter were all probably in the Gryffindor common room scared out of their wits, or worse. The loud whooshing noise of people flying on broomsticks prompted him to look up. The sky mingled with more people flying in formation on brooms as well as dark and ghostly specters flying towards the castle now that the eggshell shield had broken. The likelihood that his friends were safe in the halls now was growing slim.

"We should go." She said. He shot her a surprised look that was hoping she's been making a sick joke. "We can sneak through. We've gone through the forest unscathed and just look at what was hiding in there. We can make it."

"You can't be serious." Remus scoffed. The idea of the two of them waltzing through the front door was suicidal at best. "That's the thick of it in there, and who knows what's passed the walls. We're better off out here."

"Oh you're right, two practically defenseless students standing out in the open sounds safer." She said nonchalantly. Though her sarcasm made him prickle, she was right. "There is something down there… I think it's the way back." When he looked back at the castle, he could tell she was right. There was something he could feel drawing him to it, like a gentle tug of an invisible string beckoning him into the danger. It reminded him of the hum of the Book of Beasts the way it allured him. "There are other ways in, aren't there?" Remus nodded. Even if he only knew of one extra way in that would be safe for them, it'd have been worth it. The only tricky part was making sure they were avoiding all of the chaos, which from where they were standing, did not look to be a promisingly easy task.

.

No longer hand in hand, the pair of them traversed the grounds along the border of the forest with their wands drawn. The sounds of crumbling and bombardment coming from the castle were inescapable, as they could hear, see, and feel the castle tearing apart from whatever battle was waging within its walls. The more intense the blow, the more anxious Remus became, as he started leaving Thalia to catch up with his quickened pace more and more often.

They reached the edge of the forest looking towards the Whomping Willow, and Remus knew they were getting closer. He'd walked the path back to the castle so many times with Madam Pomfrey, so leading the two of them with a marker now made him more eager. Only, there was something different with the tree. It was still moving with it's animalistic swaying, but it seemed different somehow. It was larger and had much more girth than he remembered. Even the sounds it made had a deeper sort of cracking to it. Not wanting to tempt fate, the two kept their distance, making sure they were well out of the swinging branches' range before continuing on a slightly beaten path leading from it towards the castle, which now that he was paying attention, he'd also never noticed before.

Whatever was happening was affecting the Willow too, and he couldn't help but let his mind wander to the shack. He was sure with the protective enchantments; it would have been the safest place to go after he got his friends. They could all hide there and wait it all out. That what the Shack was built for anyway, waiting out the danger until someone came to get him and tell him everything was fine.

.

Thankfully, the portion of the castle leading to the Hospital Wing that they were walking towards remained relatively untouched. There were still loud noises that he could hear coming from inside, but they seemed more muffled. Maybe no one had discovered it yet. He immediately thought of Madam Pomfrey again, only now he could only picture her trying to barricade whatever onslaught was coming towards her next. Good strategy would have been to go for the Healer first, but Remus just hoped the attackers didn't have that in their plans. He shook his head to push the thought away. What was important was that the familiar wooden door looked as inviting as ever even though it was shut.

Just as he was about to walk forwards and reach for the handle of the door, there was a loud bang and a bright flash and he could hear Thalia scream as a large man he'd never seen before dressed in dark clothing stood at the doorway, pointing his wand directly into Remus' face. With his heart pounding and hearing for the worst, Remus shut his eyes so tight that he could see spots… but nothing happened, at least not right away. He expected a spell to be cast to hurt him, incapacitate him, even kill him, but there was nothing. His presence wasn't even addressed. When Remus finally opened his eyes, he could see the man's wand remained pointed directly at his face, but his gaze wasn't fixed on Remus, or even on Thalia who he would have had to notice from her screaming. But instead he stared beyond them, making a disappointed gruffing noise as a shrill-voiced woman beckoned him to follow her.

"It's just another dead end. Come, the corridor keeps going this way." Remus could hear her say. Still frozen in place, he watched as the man finally lowered his wand and turned on his heel, rushing after her as if he didn't even noticed Remus at all. Originally the first question that came to him was who these people were and why were they here, but it was quickly replaced in realising that for some reason Remus and Thalia were rendered completely undetectable.

Remus felt faint and realised that he'd been holding his breath. His brain was whirring frantically to try and process and explain what'd just happened, and he turned his head over his shoulder to look at Thalia, who he could see was standing with her hands over her mouth and wide-eyes clearly in shock as they both realised at the same time why they'd made it so far without being attacked.

Perhaps the Hollow granted them power after all.


	12. As It is Written

**Chapter Twelve**

 **As It is Written**

"Maybe we cast a spell on ourselves." Said Remus as he looked over to Thalia, who was still looking at her hands as if trying to figure out what sort of enchantment they put themselves under. "It can happen… using magic that you don't know you're using. L-like a defense mechanism."

"There aren't any spells that can render someone totally invisible, and he definitely could _not_ see you. He couldn't see either of us. He didn't even respond to any noises we made. This is something else…" She replied, finally looking back up to him. "You don't think… think we're _dead_ do you?" He didn't have an answer right away. He did after witness first hand what happened to professor Folly after she only drank from the water, the two of them completely submerged themselves.

"If we were dead, would we be with each other? Besides, I don't… feel dead. Then again, I've never been dead before…" Remus responded honestly, but not at all comforting. Still, his answer seemed to quell her nerves as she nodded warily in agreement. Even though he wasn't sure exactly what happened to them, what he was certain of was that they needed to press on. Whatever was drawing them had to have had some sort of answer even though he wasn't quite sure what it is they were searching for. Remus took the lead first, noticing that to his left the passage leading directly into the hospital wing had completely caved in. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he expected the worst.

The sound of what he assumed were spells hitting stonewalls coming from the unblocked end of the corridor alerted him. His immediate senses told him it was dangerous, after all how could it not be? There were shouts and curses, both magical and not, and bright flashing lights all coming from the end of the corridor. Despite himself, he walked towards it, and Thalia joined him as the two walked along, the anticipation building as the noises became louder and more intense.

In following the corridor, eventually they found themselves walking through a barred door in an archway that led to the main staircases. Now that he had a full-on view as to what was happening, Remus instinctually grabbed the bars and peered through. There were flashes and streaks of green and red, and blue and white clashing with one another. It was hard to tell at first, but between all of the robes of black swishing with the motions of spells, he could see that on the other end of some dueling wands were students. Hogwarts was fighting back, and even though he didn't recognise any of them fighting, the warmth within him grew like am inflating balloon as he urged himself to open the iron door before Thalia spoke up.

"Wait" she started grabbing his arm, causing him to pause before letting her finish. "Remus we can't just barge in the middle of spells flinging around everywhere. We still don't know what's happening." He stopped and watched again, seeing the unrelenting blows volley from across the walls and onto the stairs, watching the rocks crumble in their wake. "I want to get to the bottom of what's going on just as badly as you, but secret Hollow power or not, we cannot be reckless."

He let go of the bars, feeling embarrassed. Usually it was him being the rational one, but with all of excitement bursting around him, it was hard not to want to match the level of necessity around him by moving quickly to where he believed they needed to go… Perhaps a bit of James and Sirius' spontaneity was rubbing off on him.

"What are we supposed to do?" He asked urgently. "Just wait?" She didn't speak, but the pained expression on her face told him all he needed. "What about my friends? Your friends? Aren't you worried about them? They could be in danger!" He voice cracked as it rose and his blood began to boil as his grip around the bars tightened. She recoiled a bit at his tone, and he took that as his signal to dial his emotions back.

"I don't think they are." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he had no trouble hearing her words despite the chaos around them. "And I don't think you do either." His grip against the bars slackened. In truth, he felt his instincts lead him more towards the eerie drawing feeling that kept gnawing at the back of his mind rather than his friends. It would have meant he was being selfish. That something unknown and mysterious was more important to him that even thinking about them. It was either accepting that something else took precedence, or admitting in somehow feeling... knowing, she was right. That perhaps there was something different about the castle. Every looked the same at first glance, but had that really been the case? It was as if they stepped on the other side of a mirror, a reflection that just wasn't quite lining up. Maybe that was the Hollow's magic working again, but the more he dwelled on the possibility, the more unavoidable the reality that his friends were not the most important things going on.

Eventually he let go of the bars and turned his back on the adjacent wall, slinking down to the bottom. What else was there to do other than wait? They were unseen and heard like ghosts, and she'd been right. Being reckless only ever led to bad things. Thalia followed suit next to him and cautiously rested her head on his shoulder as the pair listened to the carnage that the stone wall separated them from.

"Do you think it'll at least be over soon?" He asked without expecting or receiving an answer from her.

x - x - x

"So have either of you come up with any plans yet?" Said James as he plopped his bag onto the trunk at the end of his bed in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory.

"Yeah, cheat off of Evans for the Charms exam." Sirius replied almost immediately as he did the same with the exception of missing his trunk, making its contents' spill on the floor. "It'll save me the trouble of wasting time trying to read through all of it."

"I think he means plans about Remus." Said Peter following in after them while making sure his books were all in place for his own sake.

"Oh you mean about the whole... Thing." Said Sirius sheepishly, the flicker of guilt clearly evident on his face. "Right. Then no. Not anything good at least." Sirius shut and locked the door soon after and the three of them took their places in their beds.

"What about you, Peter?"

"I have something... But I want to hear your idea first." Replied Peter. James ruffled his own hair in annoyance since it baffled him that he was the only one to seem to have come up with a decent plan for them.

"Alright fine." He started, now sitting up and leaning in to be more secretive. He didn't want Remus bursting in to hear them chatting and ruin the whole operation they'd have in place to help. "What we do, is that we learn everything we can about werewolves, right? So we learn about them, like how to defend ourselves and keep them at bay. That way, we can go see Remus on full moon nights and be safe." It sounded even better when he laid it out for them. He clapped both of his hands on his knees with a wide grin waiting for their imminent approval that disappointedly didn't come. Instead he was greeted with confused and horrified looks from both of them.

"Maybe you didn't hear me when I said I needed to cheat to pass my charms final." Said Sirius. "If I'm struggling with basic charms, how the hell do you think I'm gonna be able to fend off a werewolf?" James grin instantly melted away.

"Besides, we don't start werewolves until next year..." Peter added, and like a bubble, James' idea completely popped and vanished into oblivion. He was inwardly outraged that they had the nerve to criticize his plan when they didn't have much to contribute. It was his idea to even _have_ an idea in the first place.

"Then what's _your_ idea of its so much better?" He snapped, waving his hand at Peter whose eyes widened. James' feelings were hurt but it was easier for him to lash out than lick his wounds. "Well?" Peter flinched and shook his head.

"N-not much better."

"Go on, let's hear it anyway." Sirius urged him, though it was hard to tell if his tone was sincere or amused to see if Peter was going to crash and burn.

"Well I just thought... That maybe if _we_ changed too—"

"I'm going to stop you there because I don't think any of us actually want to become werewolves." James interrupted.

"Sounds a bit counterproductive to be honest." Sirius chimed in again, making the other two look at him. "What? It does. Remus isn't the only one who uses big words."

"Not change into werewolves. You know, other things." Peter continued.

"Other things like what?" James was now trying to mask his intrigue with annoyance so that he wouldn't have to admit he was interested.

"I dunno. McGonagall can turn into a cat, can't she?"

"You think the three of us as _cats_ will stand a better chance?" The idea was so comical that James couldn't even stifle the small laugh that came from his lips in asking.

"Against a werewolf? Could you imagine the bloodbath?" The mental picture Sirius painted for them had been enough to deter Peter from giving the rest of his idea.

"Forget it. I told you it wasn't much better." He resigned, kicking off his own shoes and gripping at his tie to loosen it.

"I think," Sirius started as he flopped on his back onto the bed. "That we've got our hearts and heads in the right place for all this. Remus has been doing this for a while we assume right? So what's another summer? We'll figure out plans over _this_ summer when our heads aren't crammed with all of this school stuff, and once we come back, we'll figure something out." James blinked. The irony that the most well thought out plan came from the one of them who did the least amount of preparing was almost poetic. His point stood firmer than theirs since it was evidence enough that they could only come up with a half-baked plan after having months to think about it.

"...That sounds fair." Said James.

"I think so too." Peter responded soon after, making the smug smile on Sirius face appear visible even though he'd been lying down.

"See? I've got good ideas sometimes too."

"Don't push it." James laughed, tossing a pillow at him. The three of them continued their ritual of getting ready for bed until the absence of their fourth was becoming more and more distinct.

"Where is Remus anyway?" Sirius broke the silence first. "Wouldn't he have met up here with us by now?"

"Well he said he was grabbing a bite so I don't think he would have been too far behind." James shrugged, cleaning off his glasses with his pyjama shirt, making a squinting face at the door as if to get a better look through it to see if Remus was in fact on his way back. "Or maybe he's in the library? For all we know he could be in the common room with his nose in a book."

"Maybe he's not getting dinner, or doing any of that stuff." Said Peter. "I mean the full moon is in... Four days?"

"I thought it was five."

"I thought it was six." Scoffed Sirius. "We'll need to keep better track—"

"What I mean is, wouldn't he be preparing? Maybe he _said_ he was going to dinner and he actually went off to do stuff to get ready for it."

"Oh, right. Maybe you're right." As if on cue, the handle to the door of the dormitory wriggled from someone trying to enter. Peter immediately went wide-eyed and red-faced as he shut his mouth while James beamed. "Ah, that must be him. Unlock the door would you Sirius?"

x - x - x

Hours seemed to have passed, but they were say so long listening to the horrible noises that there was no telling how much time actually passed. The sound of spells flying and stone settling and crumbling seemed to die off in an instant. There was no gradual decline, only the indication that there was activity, and then there wasn't.

"Is it over?" Thalia asked lifting her head off of his shoulder. Remus shrugged in reply, and slowly moved on the floor to look out of the archway. The sight perplexed him. There were still figures in black cloaks and students from what Remus could see, but they weren't moving or casting spells. They all stood still, watching each other like there was a game now starting as to whom would cast the first curse. "What's going on? Are they still there?"

"Yes." He answered. "But they're just... Not fighting anymore?" She stood quickly to her feet to look on with him, and he watched as the same look of confusion drew upon her rounded features to match his. "I didn't hear a call for truce, did you?"

And then like a snap of invisible fingers, the attackers all began to withdraw and leave. None of the students fought back as they all simply walked or ran through exits. He stopped being surprised by that point at what he was seeing, but Remus still wanted the students to fight back. The school had been damaged so much despite it still standing, and for seemingly no reason at all it was just… over. After a few moments, the students moved too, all walking in the same direction away from him and Thalia.

"No. But this is what we were waiting for." He answered finally, taking the lull in activity as their opportunity. "We should start moving now." She turned towards him and he nodded in agreement. Thalia took a step forward, carefully stepping over the displaced stone and rubble, and he followed behind, making sure not to leave too much space in between them. Even though they wouldn't really be able to cover much ground without one another, knowing that there was someone else going through the bizarre environment made it easier to suspend his own disbelief. The only thing that seemed to make sense was the still allure that was coming from what he now realised would have been the great hall should they continue walking. "What do you think is, this feeling?"

"I've been hoping it's the way back. If all of this is just some trick or spell, there would have to be a way to break it."

"Right." He agreed, feeling reassured, but keeping his eyes fixed on his hands, which were still red from gripping the bars. He felt a baleful stir in his stomach as he finally took the time to really contemplate what was going on.

All of the excitement and adrenaline seemed to be wearing off now, leaving only the raw and unaltered feelings of dread and fear in their wake, and he noticed his hands begin to shake. People were fighting, and it was only a matter of time until they ran into casualties. Casualties he wasn't ready to see. Up until now he hadn't been able to place a single familiar face other than Thalia who was with him, but he wasn't sure what he'd be reduced to if he did. He was now beginning to understand the stories of madness that Peter told him about the Hollow.

He was left wondering that if what they were going towards did provide them an escape, would they even be the same? Did the others who found the Hollow before them experience what he was experiencing now, only to be told they were mad? It was all only pieces of the story at that point. The largest portion of the legend, the wielding of Dark Magic, still remained untouched and the biggest mystery to him, one that he of course, was not looking forward to uncovering as they were undoubtedly on their way to do. In his deep thought, Remus wasn't paying attention and he ran into Thalia, who was now completely stopped.

The Great Hall doors were completely open. Instead of the four long tables that filled the floor space, instead there were lines and rows of makeshift beds on the floor, all of them occupied by people. Most of them, from what Remus could tell, were students. Upon laying eyes on the rest of those filling the Great Hall, he noticed that those not in uniform were older. These people it appeared were no longer students, but fighting for their cause. The sight made him swell on the inside, feeling grateful for them.

Upon looking around the rest of the room, he could see a matron caring for the injured where the professor's table stood, and groups of people cluttered together in some areas and corners; some of them were embracing each other in relief, and others in mourning. He couldn't bear watching on for too long. The closest thing he could associate with his surroundings was a war movie he watched with his mother, which only proved to make him sadder as white sheets were drawn over those who'd fallen in the battle, and placed in the middle of the room with the rest of them, where he dare not rest his eyes for too long.

 _._

 _Potter._ He could hear whispers and murmurs of the name, and it immediately snapped him from his melancholic state. _Potter._ It made Remus turn his head so fast at the name, almost enough for him to ignore the painful crack of whiplash in his neck. He could only hope at this point that the familiar name would bring him some solace or relief in seeing something familiar or at least different from the hell he'd been dumped into.

That was when he saw him walking slowly through the Great Hall, fidgeting with his fingers in contemplation as his gaze was fixed forward. Remus perked up immediately, and even though the boy couldn't see him, the sight of him made Remus' heart miss a beat.

He was taller, skinnier, and much older than the James that Remus knew. He had the same black hair and glasses, his hair reaching his shoulders in a messy mop, and even though his face was dirty and bloody, he looked _just_ like James. All except for his eyes, which Remus couldn't quite place. The resemblance other than the small detail was so uncanny, that denying it would have been a far stretch indeed… but could it really and truly been him? The aged and weary expression of the person that strolled along passed him looked to be beyond his Hogwarts years. Even when he got a good enough look at his face, that much was evident. Who else would it be? There were no other Potters… Remus felt his stomach lurch as seeing the older James only confirmed what he feared all along. More importantly, it pressed the next haunting question in his mind as he couldn't help but notice that he, Peter, or Sirius weren't walking along with him. When he thought of seeing himself older and walking along with James, Remus felt a chill, as he wasn't sure what he would make of it. James stopped in his tracks, standing completely still for a few moments before suddenly breaking into a run out of the Great Hall.

"James, wait—" He stopped himself, forgetting the insignificance of trying to reach him. When he turned his head over his shoulder to address his thoughts to Thalia, Remus could see that she had disappeared from her spot near him. Before he even had time to call her name, when he saw the entire room pulse like a ripple in the water, then invisible tendrils wrapped around his body.

.

There was a stinging pang in his stomach, and then a gripping feeling like iron bars wrapping around his chest as he was suddenly heaved from his feet. Remus was being pulled so fast into the air that by the time he shut his eyes from the pain, he could already hear the wind rushing through his ears as he was what he could only describe as being lifted up and out. Then he was outside again, coughing and sputtering since now he seemed to also be sopping wet. When he opened his eyes, he was back again in the forest, staring down at the foliage crunching between his fingers and he continued to hack and cough. Behind him he could also hear the continued chanting of Professor Folly, still repeating her words: _Time, Beasts, Blood._

"Stand if you can." Said a metallic, yet almost musical sounding voice that he couldn't discern right away whether it belonged to a man or a woman. When Remus looked up, the sight of where the voice was coming from startled him enough to make him jump. The figure was imposing and standing on two feet, thought it certainly wasn't human. Long and bony legs were attached to clawed feet, which all supported an imposing body. The skin reminded Remus of an insect with its armor like quality, as it seemed to serve as a sort of exoskeleton spanning along its torso and eerily long arms. As much as the sight of the body disturbed him, it was nothing compared to the face, or lack thereof, that seemed to be peering down at Remus at the end of a long and crooked neck. Where there should have been eyes, a nose, and a mouth, was simply a void. Black and sunken in like a hole framed by the same exoskeleton that spanned the rest of its body. The faceless thing tilted its head at Remus, prompting him of its original request in asking him to stand up.

He scrambled to his feet, and still it towered over him. Remus thought about drawing his wand again, but when he looked over to see that there were several others of the same type of creature standing around him, he knew it would have been no use. Thalia was already stood up, and she inched closer to him. Both of them were still sopping wet, and the only noise to be heard now was the rush of blood in his ears.

"You have disturbed the Hollow." The faceless being that spoke to him first stood up straight now, it's voice still metallic and serene, yet it spoke slowly, ominous with warning. "You have seen." _Seen._ The word echoed through his head as nodded, though he realised soon after that the other beings around the perimeter repeated the word as well.

"I'm sorry, I just—" He flinched instead of turning to Thalia again. He didn't want to admit of the events leading to diving into the pool. He didn't know what these creatures were capable of, and he certainly didn't want to give them a reason to be angry or hurt them. "I didn't know what would happen." The way that the voided face inched closer to his and seemed to peer into his mind unsettled him. "Wh-who are you?"

"We have no names, Remus Lupin. We only protect." He wasn't surprised that it seemed to know his name, but it didn't make hearing it in their voice any less jarring.

"Protect from what?" Asked Thalia in a small and scared voice.

"From those who wish to use the Hollow's power to enhance their own. Terrible things happen to those who meddle with powers of which they know not. One of you entered tainted." He felt himself turn white. Surely it meant him with his affliction, but before he could speak, the figure turned to Thalia, who like him, had very little colour in her face left as well.

"I—I didn't—" She stammered, her eyes beginning to get watery.

"It matters not. You were fortunate, Thalia Winsor. Bewitchment is beneath the power, though may have disastrous results. Such a pity" Without needing to say, Remus knew it was referring to the professor, who was curiously silent through all of this. Remus looked over his shoulder to see her; she was frozen in place, unmoving. It sparked the memory of Sirius, how he was completely stopped by a spell cast by the mysterious man just outside of the school as if paused for a moment in time.

It gave him an odd sense of relief that Thalia wasn't in her right mind when all of it started. Knowing that it wasn't His eyes trailed next to the pool, harmless still as it's water lapped against the forest floor.

"What power? You said bewitchment was beneath the power…" Remus asked, almost dreamily, though he question burned him still. It all circulated back to the great mystery after all.

"Your kind has created something similar." It replied, a long almost skeletal finger pointed to the water and the disturbances in the air indicated to him that the enchantments were being reapplied. "Though they work differently, you know them to be called _pensieves._ " Like a bell, the word rang into Remus' head as he heard his father's voice return with its description. _We use them to recall memories._

The pieces fit, the immediate sensation of falling down while landing feather light, the way that they seemed to only be able to observe and not interact. The experience and what he was watching was so vastly different from his only experience with a pensieve before that he hardly made the difference.

"We were looking into the past?" Asked Thalia, her tone sounding as curious as Remus felt. The being shook its head, still keeping its voided gaze onto the pool behind them.

"Witches and Wizards have tried to emulate the power, and your pensieves are the result. However, what is fabricated can only see behind. But this, what occurs in nature, yields unlimited sight. Backwards… and forwards."

"We saw the future." Said Remus confirmed with resignation. He suspected after he saw the older James, but desperately hoped his hunch was wrong. The nod the figure gave him was like a spike being driven through him. If what he and Thalia witnessed were what was to come, the school would be destroyed. "Is that what's going to happen then? Hogwarts will be in danger? Won't there be anything we can do to stop it?" There was no response. He and Thalia looked at each other, and he only hoped he didn't lose half the colour that she had.

"As it is written, what the Hollow shows was meant to be. To change it… this is your power." The other protectors echoed their leader's words, and Remus felt his pulse pound hard in anticipation. "The universe resides in a delicate balance. Knowing what is to be is an unnatural tip in the scale, so the future you have witnessed will cease to exist so long as the choice to change it remains."

"Are you saying then that it can be stopped? We can save the school?" Thalia piped up. The being's long neck craned again between the two of them, and Remus wondered what Thalia was thinking of all of this. Then, he thought grimly of what her father would have thought as well. She remained silent, watching along as he did as the protector became less threatening and more forewarning.

"The events that occurred tonight have fractured the timeline. Knowing will give the power to change it, but destiny sits like stones in the river of time. They may be altered, buffeted, maybe even possibly even moved further into the flow, but the stones remain. This would be wise to remember."

.

There were still so many questions swimming in his mind. What did the Hollow have to do with the Grimoire? Why was the future he saw a great battle at the school? What could they do to change it? As each of the questions piled up in his mind, he struggled to find his voice to ask. He hated the annoying occurrence he too frequently found himself in that always revealed many doors when only one was opened.

"What's going to happen to us now?" Asked Thalia in a voice barely above a whisper. "Are you going to let us go?" the being nodded, and the relief was clearly visible on both of their faces.

"We must. The Hollow has entrusted you with great power and responsibility." The copies all echoed him again. The gesture was beginning to get irritating. "We will say farewell for now. I'm confident we will meet again. Good luck." The scene around them pulsed, similarly to how the Great Hall did in the future, and they were all stood at a familiar clearing in the forest, different from where they just stood. They were no longer soaked head to toe, but completely dry, and there was no longer any sign of the faceless protector in any direction. Remus swallowed hard when he realised where they now stood was where he found his old mangled professor, and hoped it'd just been some sort of sick coincidence. He knew at least it meant that they were only steps away from the edge of the forest; the only thing separating them from the ground of the school was a brush of bushes and trees.

The professor's voice could be heard again, as she sat in front of them with her back facing them, hand across her knees. The chanting had stopped, but now she seemed to be muttering nonsense, which wasn't reassuring in her state to say the least.

"Come on." Said Remus, crouching down to grab her arm. "We've got to take her back." Without speaking, Thalia agreed and helped the professor to her feet, and wrapped her other arm around her shoulders, them both taking her to the break in the trees where they were met at wand light.

Remus felt his heart sink. Though it'd been the first sign of refuge, it could have also meant the end of his time at Hogwarts as in the glow of the tip of the wand illuminated the very startled and angry expression of Professor McGonagall.


	13. Awaiting Consequence

**Chapter Thirteen**

 **Awaiting Consequence**

"We can explain." Remus started. McGonagall didn't speak, but merely pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow at him. It seemed he already bit off more than he could chew as he frantically racked his brain for "I— there was someone going towards the forest again, and you know, there was a break-in, so I… I." He froze. The intimidating look on her face wasn't budging to buy or even have patience for his story for half a second. He'd broken a rule, a rule explicitly given out because of him. He couldn't have been standing in a worse position having walked out of the forest and with a half-conscious teacher on his arm.

"Professor, we were only trying to—" Thalia started, surely after realising he'd started to crash and burn.

"Silly puppies tripping over their own feet." Said Folly, lifting up her head towards the sky and giggling. "Naughty naughty… following their tails to where they shouldn't go."

"…Lyssa?" said McGonagall, now shining her wand light to the woman supported between Remus and Thalia, who he'd forgotten was mostly concealed in her large cloak. McGonagall lifted her hood, and the two women looked at each other, or rather McGonagall looked at her since the now blind eyes of professor Folly could only search ahead with no focus. "What happened to her?" the anger was completely gone from her voice, and replaced with concern.

"She was bewitched." Thalia said first without hesitating. Remus glanced over to her. "Something happened into the forest just now and… and she snapped." Professor Folly snapped her fingers on cue by their ears while her arms were still wrapped around her shoulders. "We didn't know any other way to help her so we wanted to bring her back to the castle." McGonagall considered this and gave a look as to size Thalia up to determine whether or no she'd been lying. After a few moments of silence between the three of them, only being filled by Folly's humming, the Professor sighed deeply.

"She will be seen by Madam Pomfrey." Said McGonagall. "If what you say is true, only she can help her from here." The two of them nodded and begin to walk with her again when the headmistress held up her hand. " _I_ will be the one escorting her. The two of you will report straight to your common rooms without a word to anyone on the matter until tomorrow morning. Then you will speak to the headmaster, and he will decide what to do with you." Remus felt as though his insides were going to unravel. "Don't look so surprised. As heroic as your intentions may have been, you are still out of the grounds passed curfew, and in the forbidden forest no less!"

"Naughty naughty." Folly giggled again. McGonagall pursed her lips and pressed the tip of her wand to Folly's forehead, and her eyes fluttered shut. Remus was prepared for the weight to go dead on his shoulders, but instead he body was lifted into the air to be suspended horizontally as she hovered to McGonagall's side. As he watched, he compared his future to the sight… slipping away helplessly. Even though he didn't carry Folly anymore, the guilt weighed down on him enough not to notice.

"I trust you two know the way back to the castle?" They looked at each other and Remus nodded, his eyes trailing their way back at the ground. "The password in the morning is Bowtruckle. Now go, and again, don't stop to speak with anyone. Is that clear?"

"Yes Professor." They replied simultaneously before walking off. Remus felt so bogged down and low that he would have dragged his feet if he weren't so eager to leave.

.

Their walk _to_ the castle was much longer than he remembered walking _from_ it. What made matters worse was that Thalia maintained complete silence from the grounds, through the courtyard, and into the doors. Walking with her was like walking through the forest again, only now instead of trees and branches, he was walking through marble and stone. He could hear her footsteps echo his, but she was like a ghost. Oddly enough, her silence made him think of the vicious crows with their glowing eyes and their sharp beaks and claws. He rubbed his hands where he remembered them tearing at him, it only hitting him then that there were no wounds when he looked down at them.

Perhaps it was another trick of the Hollow, but it was a curious thing indeed. He knew he hadn't imagined them. He thought perhaps that maybe the water quickly healed his wounds as well. It wouldn't have been so out of the question considering what else it put him through, and it was the only logical explanation his scattered brain could come up with. He stumbled while his mind wandered, forcing him to cling onto the bannister as the stairs begin to change. Even though it echoed loudly, Remus much preferred the sound of shifting stone rather than crumbling. Still, Thalia did not speak, and he started to wonder amidst all of his thoughts if she paid as much attention to his silence as he did to hers.

There wasn't much time to contemplate it anyway, as they'd arrived at the point of their separation once they got to the staircases.

"Well…" She started in a small strained voice. "I suppose we'll see each other in the morning."

"Right, if I haven't flung myself from Gryffindor tower first." He nodded, only half-joking. She giggled at first, and almost as quickly as her smile came, it left. It didn't seem much the time for jokes or laughing. The two of them stood in silence, the only noises to be heard were the staircases shifting above. She cleared her throat before speaking again.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into all of this. And now you'll be seeing the headmaster too." She looked as though she were about to start crying. He was going to stop her, but she had a point, and he didn't want to be modest without something to back up his feelings with. "You certainly wouldn't have had to if you didn't go into the forest in the first place… or immediately selling me out to the professor to save your own skin."

"Apparently I'm quite good at that. You don't have to thank me. I'm sure you'd have done the same for me." Her tiny smile was reassuring enough that he felt validated. Still, it didn't ease the obvious tension they both felt looming over them.

"Well… Good night, Remus."

"Good night." He responded, knowing full well it could have easily been the last that he spent in the castle. She exhaled and turned away to head down to the Hufflepuff common room and left him to walk up to Gryffindor tower with his thoughts.

 _Why is this door even locked?_ He thought as he jiggled the handle of the boy's dormitory. Remus knocked twice, hoping that one of them had been awake enough to help him in. He didn't like the prospect of spending the night on the staircase, especially if it were going to be his last. Thankfully after a bit of shuffling and murmuring, he was greeting by a beaming Sirius, whose bright and smiling disposition jarred Remus.

"Should have put money on it, James." He said, nodding his head and turning so Remus could enter. "It's too bad your Quidditch skills aren't as good as your guessing." Peter stifled a snicker and James shot him a hard look. "What? The season's over." The look didn't change. "…Too soon?"

"Stayed back a little later than usual for dinner, mate?" Said James addressing Remus now, abruptly changing the subject.

"Huh? Oh, yeah… sorry, I lost track of time. To be honest, I didn't think you all would still be awake." Remus sat down at the edge of his bed and began to undress. He tried moving quickly in hopes that none of them would notice any of the holes or tears in his clothes before he had a chance to get the fixed.

"Of course we're awake. It's not too terribly late." Said Peter with a shrug. "It's only, what… half nine."

"Half nine?" Remus echoed, completely alarmed. He'd been gone for _hours._ Walking into the forest just to get to the Hollow alone would have put him at that time on its own, not even taking into account the events after finding Thalia and the professor. Sure enough, when he whipped his head to their clock on the wall, it was true. To them he'd only been gone for a few hours. "I guess that makes sense, then." He said, even though it absolutely didn't. His head hurt too much to try and figure out what happened, and he resigned himself to think about something else. The morning would loom in the back of his mind to the point where he wasn't expecting any sleep anyway, so there wasn't any point in dwelling on something that he'd more than likely not come up with an answer for. Not on his own at least.

"You all right, Lupin?" asked Sirius, well after his pillow made contact with Remus' face. It would have frustrated him, but that was the danger of being the first to try to get any sleep among the others.

"Yeah, I'm just tired is all." He replied. It wasn't entirely false if the numb feeling in his legs from walking was anything to go by.

"What, did lot happen inbetween dinner and your walk up?" Asked James. Remus scoffed in an attempt to avoid having to answer him in the hopes that maybe one of them would change the subject again.

"Wait a minute…" Started Peter, making Remus turn to look at him. For a moment his heart missed a beat in the way Peter's tone hung on the thought. "It's passed curfew, isn't it? You didn't get stopped on your way up, did you?" The other two looked at him now with equally as perplexed expressions as Peter now. Normally whenever Remus was feeling cornered, he would get nervous and have to commit himself to another lie, but Peter's observation was more than he could have hoped for at that point.

"…Yeah, I did." Said Remus, ruffling the back of his hair. "M-McGonagall caught me on my way back up and said I 'had no business walking around at night.'" His impression of her made them chuckle. "I'm supposed to get my sentencing first thing tomorrow morning for it… she must have been too tired to do it on the spot. Don't be too surprised I guess if you see points missing—"

"That _sucks_." Sirius scoffed. "Of all the people to bust you. Shouldn't have hung around after dinner so long, maybe you'd have caught a break." Funnily enough, Remus agreed. "You think she'll go easy on you?"

"Absolutely not. It's McGonagall we're talking about."

"It's one thing to give you punishment, but she's making you wake up _early?_ On a _Saturday?_ The woman's downright medieval." said James, and the four of them sat in a moment of silence before Peter started giggling.

"She really is, isn't she?" he snorted. There was something about Peter's contagious shoulder shaking and shorting that broke the tension and had the rest of them laughing along with him. Perhaps if this _were_ his last night at Hogwarts, it wouldn't have been so awful.

.

As he predicted, sleep didn't come easily. Peter's snores seemed to be louder than usual, and he couldn't seem to find the right position. Whether he was on his front, side, or back, he knew the large portion of what was keeping him awake was in his head. Whenever he closed his eyes, he kept seeing the flashes of spells and the crumbling stone. If he managed to keep them closed long enough to manage something resembling sleep, eventually he saw the Great Hall again in it's damaged state. He would have taken Book of Beasts humming in his trunk one hundred times over this. At least he could drown out the book… how was he supposed to drown out his own thoughts? Especially knowing that would have been the future that awaited them had he not taken his detour. He shuddered beneath his sheets and turned over to get into a more comfortable position.

Whenever his eyes focused onto the clock, he realised he'd been checking far too frequently, as it seemed to be going backwards, yet at the same time ticking relentlessly forward, reminding him how many precious hours of sleep he was losing. Eventually, the light violet hint of dawn came creeping through the window just before the sun peaked over the mountains. By that time he almost subjected himself to harm in order to lose consciousness.

 _Maybe I can hit my face against the posts._ He thought, forcing his eyes closed and the blanket over his head since the prospect was looking far too tempting. _No I might get brain damage or something._ He changed position again facing the ceiling, and put his pillow over his face. _This is never going to happen. I should give up on sleep forever. Something please fly through the window and kill me…_ His thoughts went on, and his musings eventually drifted him away into sleep.

.

His eyes fluttered open to the sunlight creeping through the dormitory window and an odd padding thud next to him. It'd been entirely too early, and he was not running on enough sleep to start putting waking up to good use. His bed after all was so comfortable and he was so tired. So tired in fact, that the events of last night didn't have enough time to catch up with his groggy self.

"What time is it?" Remus asked in a croaky voice and yawned, rubbing his eyes to help them focus on something other than how bright it was. There was a blur constantly moving, and then the blur morphed into what looked like Sirius tossing something bright and green… or maybe it was yellow. He sat up and ruffled his own hair to fix his bedhead, and by that time realised that Sirius had been playing with a tennis ball, alternating between tossing it up and down into the air and bouncing it off the wall. Remus wondered where he even got it from since that seemed to be the more important and prominent question in his mind. Did wizards even play tennis? What an interesting thought… Maybe he snatched it from one of the muggleborns in Gryffindor. Just before he could voice this concern, Sirius spoke.

"It's..." he started, catching the ball and leaning forward to see the clock. "Quarter passed the hour." He continued tossing the ball.

"…Helpful." He said sarcastically after yawning again. "Which hour?"

"Nine."

"Oh, okay." Remus nodded and pressed his head into the pillow again. Just as he was drifting off again, the realisation struck him like a bolt of lightning. "Wait, what?!" he cried, the realisation hitting him like a bolt of lightning, and he scrambled out of bed so wildly that he fell out in a mess of his sheets. He immediately stood to his feet and reached for his trunk to change into something presentable. The others pulled their covers over their heads to drown out all of the stomping and running around he was doing in a frantic effort to get dressed. "What happened to my setting on the clock? I set it for an hour ago!" The other boys stirred and groaned. They clearly didn't like the disturbance.

"That thing? I thought that was a sick joke. Remus, It's Saturday. It should be a crime to be awake that early on a weekend—"

"I told you last night I had to be somewhere first thing!" He was getting frustrated now as he hopped into his shoes and put on a shirt without even bothering to have it tucked in to the trousers he was rushing into too much to bother zipping. "Plus if it's so early, what are you doing up?"

"I'm always up this early." He shrugged, clearly finding amusement in Remus' distress if his jovial smile was anything to go by. "birds and worms or however the expressi—"

"And you didn't— why would— ugh, forget it!" Remus said as he stormed off out of the dormitory.

"Hey bring me back something from downstairs would—" The slam of the door cut Sirius off before he could finish.

.

The more traffic that was on the stairs, the more they moved. For Remus, this meant that it would take him even longer to reach down to the headmaster's office. He was completely mortified, jumping to the absolute worst conclusion on his way down that for the sole reason of oversleeping. Once the stairs aligned, he bolted down them while skipping some and jumping most in an attempt to beat when they moved. When he final reached the gargoyle statue, he skidded on his sneakers to stop himself from running straight into it.

"Bowtr—" Before he could finish saying the password, the statue began to turn. Perhaps it knew he was stood there waiting to get in. He stepped forward to get a better look at the staircase when he noticed Thalia walking down the stairs. He ran his fingers over his face, now starting to deal with the fact that he left her hanging to fend for herself on her own with the headmaster. He wanted to blame Sirius for making him late, but what good would it have been giving an excuse.

"Good morning, Remus." She said. He smiled nervously at her in return and ruffled his hair. He didn't even know where to start. It seemed like he'd made a habit of letting her down. "He just asked me to come get you. I'm glad you're here, I really wasn't looking forward to climbing all of those stairs."

"Sorry I'm late." He finally managed to spill, his voice still croaky from being relatively fresh out of bed.

"I wouldn't worry about it. He's a very understanding man, professor Dumbledore." Said Thalia after tucking one of her braids behind her ear.

"How did it go?"

"Fine. He gave me a cup of tea and just talked to me."

"Talked to you? That's it?" He responded, clearly shocked.

"Mhm. I don't really remember most of what happened last night, so I don't think I was very useful for him. He'll probably just ask you to fill in the gaps—"

"So he didn't expel you?" He didn't mean to cut her off, but he could tell he was starting to annoy her by the way she slightly pursed her lips.

"Well _no_. Why would he?"

"We broke like, _the_ biggest school rule."

"Yes… But we didn't _hurt_ anyone." Remus just felt like she tossed a large bucket of cold water into his face. Maybe part of the punishment from professor McGonagall was making him feel like he was going to be punished worse than he actually was. He thought back to the night before when Sirius described her as medieval. She smiled nervously at him before continuing on. "He does still want to speak with you, though. You shouldn't keep him waiting."

As she walked away, the staircase leading to Dumbledore's office remained open for him. He took the trip going up to do any last minute adjustments to his outfit that he was in such a hurry to jump into until he reached the doorframe opening up into Dumbledore's office. As usual, the room was buzzing and whirring with the sound of what was probably hundred of magical objects, all glittering and gleaming with the light of the morning sun which filled the room with warm and natural light. He then just realised he'd never seen it during the day, and how much he preferred it since it felt more alive and awake. He knocked on the frame hard with his knuckles to announce his presence.

"Come in, Remus." Said the Headmaster's soft voice. Remus was so distracted by the ambience of the room, he didn't even realise the professor was sitting in the middle of it all at his desk. Dumbledore gestured for him to sit in the chair facing him, a chair that Remus by this point had been well acquainted with. "Good morning."

"Good morning sir." He replied, soon followed after by his large red bird spreading its wings, clearly wanting to be greeted too. The thought made him strain to suppress a smile. Now wasn't the time. "I'm sorry I'm late… I overslept." Remus could feel the blood rushing to his face in admitting so, and was sure that the telltale redness in his ears made itself known.

"I can understand. From what I've heard, you've had a very busy night."

"Yeah." He said. Busy was putting it mildly of course.

"I should like to hear your account, but before I do, I want to stress the gravity of the situation to you, just as I've done with Ms. Winsor." Remus nodded, and started feeling the twists and turns of his insides seeping into his knees. "I imparted the rule on the forest for a _reason_. I thought this would have resonated the most with you. It's not restricted only because it is out of bounds, it's a very, _very_ dangerous place, and while I am impressed you managed to survive and help Ms. Winsor and Professor Folly, you are still incredibly lucky to be alive. People wiser and more experienced that you have raved the wood and have not been as fortunate to emerge back in one piece as I know you are very well aware." Remus felt two inches tall, and very much like a puppy being told off for making a mess in the house. His palms began to get cold and clammy, and he found himself struggling to maintain eye contact and level with the professor since he was doing an excellent job of making Remus feel so much like that puppy with his tail between his legs. "However, like I told Ms. Winsor, it does not mean an end to your education here so long as you are completely honest with me about what happened while you were in the forest."

"Sir?" Remus looked back up to the professor. He didn't know his current enrollment was condition based. He had been hanging on Thalia's words that they weren't to be expelled, but he should have known that was too good to be true.

"Please, start from the beginning. I am here to listen… and please leave nothing out, Remus."

.

Recounting his entire night from what he saw at the doors to when McGonagall found them was mentally, and emotionally draining. He knew by the time they were caught that he'd have to give his description of what happened, but what surprised him the most was how much he was able to regurgitate in detail. He went on about the birds, about walking for what felt like hours, and didn't hesitate when it came to describing the Hollow. Dumbledore had been right after all, and his father. There was one in the forest, and he'd found it. Remus couldn't help feeling a sense of pride in that, but he tried hard to make sure it didn't translate in his storytelling.

He only faltered when it came to finding the professor and Thalia. He knew he needed to be honest, but at the expense of his friend, it made him feel like he would be betraying her. Instead he focused on what happened to Folly, how she lifted whatever enchantments were protecting the Hollow, and how she drank it and what happened to her next. He shocked himself with how much detail he could remember about her as well, as the memory of her writhing in pain on the ground seemed to be etched into his mind.

Dumbledore never interrupted him. Even as he went on and spoke about the castle being under attack, he never stopped Remus in the middle of his briefing. It was comforting since in a way it made him feel like the headmaster believed him, even though even coming from his own mouth, what he was spewing sounded insane in his own ears. Remus learned by now that there was such things as seers who could see glimpses of the future, but up until now he was sure he was one of a handful of people to witness it… to live in it, even if it were only for a few hours. By the time he finished, Remus throat felt dry and he was emotionally exhausted.

"I sound mental." He said after taking a small break in speaking. Dumbledore lifted his wand and a kettle and cup rose onto the table from behind, pouring Remus tea

"You don't." Dumbledore replied softly, nudging the tea towards Remus. The gesture reminded him of the first time they met at his house in Wales almost two years ago. How far away that seemed now… "Milk and sugar?"

"Yes. Two, please." Two clumps of sugar came from another container on the headmaster's desk and dropped themselves into the cup along with a tiny pitcher pouring the milk. The set did the same for the headmaster once it was finished preparing his. The spoons stirred themselves, and Remus smiled. He reached forward to take the cup and sipped, the hot liquid burned his tongue and throat, but he bore through. Thankfully the feeling numbed quickly, so he could continue enjoying his drink. He'd skipped breakfast after all. Remus didn't pay much attention to the professor in that amount of time. Judging by the silence between them, he assumed he was deep in thought. He did throw a lot of information on him at once, information he'd have to process twice now so long as Thalia's account matched up with his.

"Thank you for sharing, Remus. It was most insightful." He finished his cup and tilted his head at the headmaster. "The two of you laid fact into what has been guesswork and myth for so long, for that I'm grateful."

"Grateful?" He repeated, unable to hide the astonishment in his tone. The meeting had been going so sideways compared to what he expected, that he was feeling jarred. "B-but I—"

.

The sound of hard and sharp knocking on the headmaster's doorframe echoed through the room, and made Remus jump in his seat. Dumbledore looked up first from his half-moon spectacles, and Remus whipped his head around to see who was coming in.

"Hello Headmaster. I certainly hope I'm not interrupting anything." Said Abraxas Malfoy as he strode into the room, the sound of his cane hitting the floor decorating his footfalls. Remus couldn't believe his terrible luck. Any feeling of hope that Remus had quickly sunk from his heart into his stomach along with the tea, and he slowly turned back around in his chair in the hopes that he could draw out Mr. Malfoy from seeing him for as long as possible. "The board of Governors has been speaking at the Ministry about another infringement on the dark forest again."

"I wasn't aware of your change in position from the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to a board member, Abraxas. I hope you'll not think me rude as to wondering what we owe this visit?" Dumbledore responded. Malfoy was next to Remus now, who was still sat in the chair. He looked as slick and sinister as ever with his combed blonde hair and pointed beard. Remus could tell that he picked a new aftershave, but it still made him want to crinkle his nose.

"There's been no change in position. Some of them can't seem to keep their mouths shut. Ah, and I see Mr. Lupin has already decided to join us." He said, placing his hand on the edge of Remus' seat. "Good. We won't have to waste time waiting for you then."

"Forgive me," said Dumbledore. "If you are not with the board of Governors, to what do I owe the visit?"

"This is two years in a row that there's been an incident, Headmaster, last year involving our friend Mr. Lupin, and now." He looked down at Remus, and his cold grey eyes pierced him. He pointed a ringed finger at him, and Remus fixed his eyes on it so intensely that his eyes crossed. " _He_ … is entirely my business and responsibility. It was in the agreement that if I should feel the safety of the school and its inhabitants feel threatened, I will step in and pluck him from the castle _myself_ if I have to."

"I appreciate the efforts you are making for our students safety. There is no doubt that this is your paramount concern. I think Mr. Lupin would agree on that." Remus met eyes with Dumbledore, clearly horrified, as he himself was a student not at all feeling safe in that moment, but still nodded in agreement.

"Of course it is. As it should be." Abraxas tapped his cane to the floor and Remus caught sight of the silver snakehead hilt…

"Is that what you came to do, then? 'Pluck him from the castle' as you put it?" Dumbledore asked, and Malfoy smiled a very unfriendly smile.

"So you can confirm then? The incident I've heard about has absolutely nothing to do with him?" There was silence, the only sound between the three of them were the magical objects gently whirring in the background. Dumbledore sighed deeply.

"I cannot." Replied Dumbledore. Remus could felt his throat tighten up. He felt like he was going to vomit. "In fact, that is why he is here with me today, recounting the events of what happened in the forest." Malfoy clearly seemed to be satisfied by this news, and Remus kept his gaze fixed on his fingers, which were now frantically fidgeting to distract himself. "However, he—"

"Broke school rules, stepped ignorantly into an incredible amount of danger, faced a situation that may have required magical knowledge and experience far passed his years… feel free to stop me when I'm wrong, Mr. Lupin." Remus opened his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him. He wasn't finished.

" _However_ , he was not transformed. The full moon is not for a few days. It is not a magical creature concern. While all of that is true, any discipline he will receive is up to his Head of House.

"Indeed." He said through gritted teeth. "But the fact remains that transformed or not, he is still a _werewolf._ He'll be my concern for the rest of his life, or until there is a cure… Whichever comes first." The words echoed around the room and stabbed Remus like a white-hot knife, though all he could do was bite his tongue as he tightly gripped the armrest of the seat. "Ultimately, he'll answer to me, one way or another."

"Very well." Said Dumbledore, and he stood to his feet, walking over to his pet bird to stroke its red feathers. "I don't think Remus will deny any of the things you've pointed out. As his headmaster I've already stressed the severity. I have it from another student's account that had Remus not broken the rules, or ignorantly braved the forest as you so eloquently phrased Abraxas, there may have been two lives lost in the woods, including one of the professors." This made Remus look up immediately.

"…Is that so."

"Hm. According to Remus' account, which was identical, it proves to be true. There's no telling what would have happened if he hadn't shown up."

"Are you implying that a twelve year old boy—"

"'I'm thirteen." Remus piped up.

"…Singlehandedly 'rescued' a full grown witch and another student from the forest."

"I'm implying you a thirteen year old _werewolf_ did." This seemed to make Malfoy shut his mouth, and Remus felt a swell of affection for professor Dumbledore as he looked down to avoid smiling or looking smug. "You agreed that the safety of the students is your main concern. I think you can also agree that since he and the other student are for the most part unharmed, that perhaps the initiative to have him in school was the right one.

"Who is this other student?"

"She is not a werewolf… and therefore not your concern."

"And the teacher?" It was clear that now he was getting frustrated.

"Mr. Malfoy, I do believe our business here is done. We have sufficient proof the Remus was not responsible for any harm, and no further action will be required unless you plan on wasting the minister's time. In fact, you can report back to her of the success and that the initiative is going incredibly well. It will be a pleasant surprise for her if she shared the same concerns as you did."

"Well thankfully you've given me good news to report, then, isn't it?" He said coldly. He looked down at Remus again, and the two met eyes. Abraxas Malfoy's eyes were as cold and gray as he remembered, and even unfriendlier than before now that Remus seemed to escape his clutches once more. Remus never met someone who seemed to dislike him so much, and if anything was certain in the way that Malfoy looked at him, it was this.

Remus wasn't sure how exactly he found out about the night before. Perhaps these 'governors' he mentioned were talking about the previous incident and he assumed the worst and marched straight to Hogwarts. If that were the case, his luck truly was as bad as he thought. They blinked at each other, and Malfoy straightened out his cuffs before tapping his cane to the ground.

"I'll keep in touch with you professor to follow up on the events." He turned his head toward Remus again. "And I'll give _your_ father my regards."

And just as quickly as he came, Malfoy left. The only trace of him now was the sound of his cane hitting the marble floor as he strode out of the office and down the staircase. It wasn't until he could actually stop hearing him walk that Remus allowed himself to relax.

"I don't think he likes me." He sighed.

"An unfortunate misjudgment on his part and any who would agree with him. Prejudice is a terrible and awful thing." Dumbledore stroked the red bird again with the back of his forefinger before sitting back down. "Where was I? Ah— I was telling you how grateful I was for your discovery." Remus nodded, and Dumbledore's tone shifted to one much more serious. "You may have realised by now that there are forces at play at this very moment that wish to find and abuse the powers you've stumbled upon."

"I didn't get any powers, sir." Remus replied. "I just—"

"Saw the future." He finished for him. "Yes, I can see how that would be confusing. The fairy tales never seem to get the entire story exactly right, do they? "Though on one hand, if it were a different time, around much less understanding people, it's not a stretch to believe that you'd be mad. On the other hand, if I were a dark wizard looking to assert my dominance over our world, that would be a great place to start, to _see_ if I would be successful." This didn't make Remus feel any better.

"But now we wouldn't be in any real danger of that future anyway. Those… protector… things told me that it's not going to happen anymore as long as…" before he could finish, he realised the point Dumbledore was making. "As long as I make the choice to change it." It seemed to resonate the way Dumbledore hoped it would, since Remus found himself sitting up a little bit straighter. "You said… there were forces at play, professor?" The professor looked at Remus again from above his half-moon spectacles.

"Yes." He said quietly.

"Obviously… _Dark_ forces. Dangerous ones like what I saw attacking the school in the Hollow."

"…Yes."

Remus looked down at his fingers and began to fidget with them again contemplating this. He knew what it meant. Seeing what happened gave him a responsibility to stop it, but that didn't do anything to calm the nerves he felt for it.

"We have a lot to prepare for, then." There was a heavy silence between the two of them, but Dumbledore simply smiled and leaned forward again.

"I'm sure that if and when the time comes for what you've seen to come to pass, we will be ready."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hello hello! Sorry this one took a little longer to pump out. I know you guys know the struggle of writer's block, and it hit me hard these passed few weeks.

Anyway, have fun playing 'spot the parallel' since I'm sure this one will be incredibly difficult to find (wink wink). Let me know what you think!

As always of course, thanks for reading as always! I could honestly write a whole other chapter about how much it means to me, it's that encouraging.


	14. The Bedside Prediction

**Chapter Fourteen**

 **The Bedside Prediction**

Remus hoped he wouldn't run into anyone who would stop him from meeting with professor McGonagall. Admittedly, he was much more relieved that he wouldn't be expelled, but it still didn't stop the uncomfortable churn in his stomach at the anticipation for the punishment he _would_ receive. He'd rather have gotten it over with sooner rather than later, especially with it being so close to the end of the school year. Perhaps she would have been lenient for that reason... No, of course she wouldn't. Thinking about it now, she probably would have made it much more severe.

He only made it up one floor when his loudly grumbling stomach interrupted, and he realised how incredibly hungry he was. He rationalised that it would have been more prudent to fill it first, since there was no way that a cup of tea was going to hold him over all day, and it didn't make sense to walk all the way up to Gryffindor tower just to walk all the way back down. With his luck, she may have spent her free time in her classroom where he wouldn't have had to walk very far at all.

He was rather impressed with himself that he managed to fit a decent breakfast in a sandwich, and even more impressed that he was able to wolf it down before reaching the first floor on his way back up. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough to catch the stairs before they changed and he was stuck stood at the banisters waiting for them to come around again with his cheeks still puffed up full of eggs and toast. He swallowed hard and turned his head to the corridor, almost forgetting that it led to the hospital wing. He had a new focus now, as he turned to walk towards the double doors.

.

At the beginning of his first year, Remus didn't like the hospital wing. The way the cots lined up always looked so daunting to him, and he never wanted to spend more time there than he absolutely needed to. However in light of his affliction and his affection for madam Pomfrey, it seemed a much more welcoming place for him. When he entered through the doors, he saw the partition pulled up blocking a cot at the end of the room from anyone else to see who was being treated. He recognized it straight away since usually it was used for him after he was in recovery for his transformations, but knew that in this instance, behind them was Professor Folly recovering from the night before. Remus turned his head and saw that the door to the nurse's office was closed, and he knew that now would be his only chance to see her again privately. Stepping as quietly as possible, he approached the curtain and pulled it back.

She was changed out of her clothes from the previous night, and her hair was drawn back out of her face. She had a few nicks and cuts here on her lips and hands, but what was most noticeable was the bandages enfolded over her eyes. The gauze was wrapped several times over, but even with it covering her large and striking eyes, Remus still noted to himself that she still looked rather beautiful lying there serenely.

He thought about her the night before, screaming, crying, and yelling. The way she spoke to him so sinisterly with the milky tinge in her eyes, and the way she spoke nonsense afterwards when the Hollow blinded her. He thought about how different that person seemed compared to the woman resting in front of him. She seemed so peaceful despite him knowing otherwise.

Before he knew it, Remus felt his fingers being drawn to the bandages over her eyes. His curiosity gnawed in the forefront of his mind, and he needed to see for himself. It didn't occur to him that her eyes would have more than likely be closed on the other end of the gauze, but before he had a chance to find out, just as he caught a glimpse of her eyelid beneath the bandages, her hand firmly grasped around his wrist.

"Agh—" He tried stifling his cry of pain. She bolted up so quickly, that Remus didn't even have a chance to wrench himself free. Folly looked around with the bandages still over her eyes, and Remus looked over to the closed office door, hoping that the startled noise he made didn't trigger madam Pomfrey to investigate. Her vice like grip was becoming more painful, and Remus started prying at it with his own hands until she spoke. It was her voice, but it was layered with another that didn't belong to her.

" _When wood is stone, it will be the beginning of the end"_ Her voice was trembling and low, like she'd been telling him about a horrible nightmare. She looked around with the bandages over her eyes as if she were trying to listen in for a whisper. _"Discord lingers in the days to come. It will build softly, and then strike… like a viper hidden in the grass."_ He felt as though his arm was going to start turning purple she was squeezing him so tight, but she wasn't finished. _"Death will sweep the world in a kiss and there will be nothing left but ice and sorrow. Time. Beasts. Blood… Time… Beasts… Blood."_

"Let go of me, professor!" he said, trying to keep his voice urgent, but low. The pain was almost unbearable now. "Please!" She gasped, inhaling sharply after he spoke. Folly loosened her grip, and Remus immediately pulled his hand away to examine the bruise slowly forming and hold it with his other hand.

"I can see it." Her own weakened voice quavered, and it seemed that whatever influence was layering with hers had gone. "…I can see it."

"What?" He replied, rubbing his wrist to soothe it. "See what?" Folly turned her head to look towards him. Had it not been for the bandages, he knew she would have been staring straight into his eyes. At first her lip trembled as if she were going to start crying, but then as if prompted by a switch, a smile slowly started to creep into the corners of her lips until she was grinning at him.

" _You,_ naughty pup." She said, the same whimsical tone from the night before back into her voice as if the last thing she said came from someone else. She reached out to touch him and Remus flinched before her fingers traced his scars. "I can see _you_... And what you're going to do." Her fingers were warm as they walked along his scars, though he wasn't sure if that was because of the colour rising in his face at her touch. All the same, despite the heat, he felt a shiver down his spine. She tutted at him and tilted her head, opening her mouth to speak again when Remus heard the door to the nurse's office shut behind him.

"What are you doing here, Remus?" Said the voice of madam Pomfrey, immediately making him back away from Folly's reach, whom without touching him seemed to go back to looking aimlessly around with her bandages, as if he were what was tethering her to being able to actually see.

"I'm sorry! I- I just..." He couldn't stop looking at Folly long enough to explain himself. He was shaken by her words. "What happened to her?"

Madam Pomfrey didn't respond right away, and at first he felt like she ignored him as she brushed passed to gently lay the professor back down. She grasped a potion standing on the side of her cot and gently tilted its contents into Folly's mouth, and within seconds she sighed back into the same resting state he found her in.

"You would know better than I would." She reached down and touched her forehead. "Whatever happened is beyond my help... I've tried everything in my power, but I'm afraid she's..." Her sentence trailed off before she could finish it, but he already knew what she was going to say. _Mad._ The prospect certainly helped him feel better than facing that Folly may have been giving him some sort of prediction. Madam Pomfrey sighed. "She'll be off to St. Mungo's before the day is over to receive long term care. I want to tell you this now before your curiosity gets you into any more trouble." For the second time that morning, Remus felt quite small. "You need to leave, Remus. I won't ask you twice." Her voice had sounded more severe than he'd ever heard it, and she didn't look at him. Once he cleared the double doors he checked down at his wrist again, relieved to see whatever tell it had of bruising was gone. It would have been hard to explain.

"Fifty points." Said McGonagall as Remus stood in front of her desk in her empty classroom.

"Fifty." He echoed, intending to sound less dumb that he actually did and more like he just simply understood what she was saying to him.

"That is the standard penalty of breaking curfew. It obviously gives me no pleasure since I will be taking it from my own house." Remus could practically see the large hourglass counter in the great hall now, all of the rubies floating back setting them significantly farther back for the house cup. Something, oddly enough, that would have mattered to him only a week ago, but now seemed so irrelevant. She fixed her square glasses and looked at him from above them, similarly to how Dumbledore did, only it wasn't anywhere near as endearing. "You will serve detention this coming Wednesday."

"I mean no disrespect ma'am... But I— erm, can't do _this_ Wednesday." He replied, in a low and bashful voice. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he messed his hair in front of his face, hoping she'd make the connection before he'd have to say it out loud that he's not be able to attend due to his commitment to howling at the moon. At that moment he realised how long his hair was starting to get, as when he pushed it in front of his face, he just as quickly flicked his neck so that he could still see the professor through his bangs.

"Ah yes, of course. Very well." She replied, and he exhaled in relief. "In that case, you and your classmates will be cleaning out the trophy room this time next week."

"House mates?" This caught him by surprise and her gave her a perplexed look. "You mean James and Sirius?"

"Indeed. Mr. Pettigrew did not make the decision to exclude himself either. They managed to get themselves tangled into a mess landing them straight in detention." She straightened her glasses to look at him. "Normally it is against better judgment to discipline you all together for very different transgressions, but being so close to end if the year exams, it would be impractical to put you in separate detentions. The professors have as much to prepare for as the students, so I've made an exception." She went back to scribbling on parchment while he stood there still quite stumped. He was only partially listening after she told him the others got themselves into trouble too. While she was talking he couldn't stop thinking about what they all would have had to do. He was only gone for an hour, which he knew for sure was correct this time.

"What, er... What did they do?" asked Remus.

"I'm sure they will tell you, should you ask." She sounded annoyed, though he wasn't sure if it was because of him asking her, or if she was thinking of whatever his friends got themselves busted with. "That will be all, Mr. Lupin."

With a timid bow of his head, he was off to make the climb to Gryffindor tower. After his run in with madam Pomfrey, he wasn't going to push his luck with McGonagall in poking his nose into business he ought not. Even so, he was painfully curious to know what they did to earn themselves detention since Peter and James were practically dead asleep when he left them…

What could have possibly happened in an hour? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Heya! So instead of making this chapter unneccessarily long and ridiculous, and wait an entire week to post it, I thought it'd be better to just split up the week for it!

I thought it would be cool to toss in my interpretation of the origin of seers and that particular branch of magic. Who knows, this may not be the last we see of Folly. Perhaps she has a part to play later on. I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Also, let me know if you've spotted the easter egg in my favourite game to play, Spot the Parallels.

Happy Tuesday!


	15. The Trophy Room

**Chapter Fifteen**

 **The Trophy Room**

Only a week went by and the entire school was buzzing. Something big and important happened in the forest, and no one was quite sure why, least of all Sirius. Then again, he wasn't one to care much of the details of situations that didn't directly involve him unless it was _really_ interesting, and this one was a decent contender in his eyes. He wasn't completely sure of what happened, all he knew was that whatever _did_ happen, it resulted in getting a free period to prepare for the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam since professor Folly had to leave inexplicably on such short notice.

Some of the students were saying she got called back to America for some family issues, some of them say she got herself hurt in the forest like the teacher last year and got admitted to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for long-term care. There were even more theories to count from that one alone. Other's have been saying, and this was Sirius' favourite even though he wasn't sure on the truth behind it, was similar to the latter, only someone lured her in the forest themselves.

He spent a lot of time thinking about it, tossing his green tennis ball in the air and catching it again from the comfort of his bed. It was hard not to since whenever there was a hint of a scandal in the castle, it was unavoidable. Last year it was the teacher dying in the forest, then this year it was that entire Hollow story becoming annoyingly popular, then there was the break in at the forest _again,_ and now Folly was gone. He kept tossing the ball. That was the consequence he supposed of keeping a bunch of kids and teenagers cooped up in a castle for so long. One thing happens, it's gossip until something else happens, and then another thing, and then another. He'd be lying to himself if he didn't enjoy hearing about it. Sometimes hearing about how much the rumours branched out and grew was entertainment more than the reason for the stories themselves. The most disappointing fact of the entire situation to him was that he'd no longer get to stare at her big brown eyes and pretty mocha skin anymore. Hogwarts would be suffering a terrible loss indeed.

Eventually, whenever he was on this train of thought, it led him to his friend Remus, who's secret he'd been keeping for the passed year would have been quite the scandal indeed. Of course, Sirius had no intention of letting the secret out to anyone anymore. No… James nipped that in the bud in the first few moments of him finding out about it after laying out the consequences. Consequences weren't Sirius' strongest suit… which was why there was no one better suited for the job of coming up with something to get the other three in detention to join Remus for getting himself caught after curfew.

"There you are." Said James after peeking his head into the dormitory. "I thought you were downstairs already."

"You thought I went to detention early?" replied Sirius with a laugh. "I hope that's a joke." James smiled at him

"Sadly not a very funny one." Said James. Sirius kicked his feet off the bed and tossed the tennis ball over his shoulder onto his sheets to join his friend. "You know you could have stayed down in the common room with us to do schoolwork?"

"Nah, you know I like working on that stuff on my own." Sirius replied with a shrug. "I'd rather save myself the lectures from the prefects who catch me comparing answers with you." This wasn't true of course, but he knew that James must have been aware of that by now. "Still, it _is_ about time for us to leave. Don't want to smear our record by not being punctual, do we?" He smiled and kicked his legs over his bed and tossed the tennis ball onto his pillow before leaving the dormitory.

He flipped her hair out of his eyes when they made it out into the common room to help him see better. Doing a quick headcount, he realised they were a man short, and he gave the room a once over rather than asking James or Peter where Remus was hiding. He noticed a blob curled up in one of the armchairs by the fireplace and walked over to give him a nudge.

"Hm…?" replied a still half-asleep Remus, whose eyes were still closed with a Charms textbook lying on his chest. Sirius knew he must have been tired with how late he stayed up the night before catching up on schoolwork. By that point he was well aware that this was because of Remus' most recent transformation. He didn't move after Sirius' initial attempt to wake and he resorted to poking his face with the tip of his wand to be more annoying.

"Wakey-wakey, Lupin. We have our just desserts to eat." Remus groaned and sat up to yawn, ruffling his hair.

"Already? I thought it wasn't for a few hours?" he said, rubbing one of his eyes.

"Yes… A few hours ago." Said Peter with a giggle. Remus groaned again and stretched before kicking his feet over the armrest to stand up and join the others as they made their way through the portrait hole.

"Is it the sixth floor?" asked Peter first as they started to walk down one of the staircases.

"I thought it was the third." Replied Remus in the middle of a yawn.

"Did anyone manage to snag a first year's map to see?" asked James.

"No." They all replied simultaneously.

"I don't even think the first year maps show the Trophy Room, just the classrooms and Great Hall and stuff." Said Peter.

"You'd think there'd be more of those floating around with how big this place is." Grumbled Sirius as they all arrived to the sixth floor corridor. "It's annoying not knowing where you need to go right away." There were plenty of doors leading to different passages to unimportant rooms like a few bathrooms and a classroom that he didn't care enough to learn the subject for, but none leading directly to a Trophy room. The only thing that was promising was a was a door towards the end, but was disappointed to see that it only led them into a large and empty office that looked like it hadn't been used in years.

"Safe to say it's not anywhere up here." Said Remus.

"Could you imagine if they made us clean out _this_ place?" asked Sirius, pointing at the cobwebs and skittering critters on the floor in the empty room. It really was quite shabby. There was a large enough window to let the light in which was given shape by the cloud of dust that seemed to be floating around the room. It also put to light all of the imperfections, like the cracks in the stone walls and floors and the seemingly moth-bitten carpet. He wondered why it hadn't been used in so long enough to let it go unattended.

"Yes it would be _terrible_. Now let's go before they try and bust us for being late and give us another detention." Said James, and the rest of them followed.

.

Mr. Filch met the four of them at the entrance of the third floor corridor, carrying his evil looking cat and stroking her on the head. The Hogwarts caretaker looked as nasty as ever, with his eerie gray eyes and odd sideburns. Sirius was impressed at how much the caretaker seemed to have his vibe of creepiness down so well.

"Took you boys long enough." He said, not even bothering to hide the annoyed sound in his tone. "Follow me." He set the cat down and she hissed at Sirius just as he walked by her, making him jump. _Damn thing._ He thought, knowing he'd get into far more trouble than it was worth if he used magic to get her out of his sight. Filch led them down the corridor to the trophy room and opened the iron bar doors to lead them in.

Sirius had never been in or even seen this particular room before, just as he assumed the other's hadn't if their looking around was anything to go by. There were crystal cases lining the walls, all of them filled with cups and statues bronze, silver, and gold, there were even glass trophies as well. Where the wall space wasn't taken up by a case, they were filled with plates, shields, plaques, ribbons, and awards. He folded his arms and looked over to Remus and Peter, whom were both clearly taking in as much of the room as they possibly could in one go to enjoy it.

While it _was_ impressive, Sirius saw every surface as something more to clean, and he knew that James agreed with him in knowing that they'd seen, well, _bigger_. After all, it was only this passed summer that his own parents deemed it necessary to take him for a trip to see their high security vault at Gringotts. It was no doubt some ploy to have him respect his pure blood and legacy more, since the vault was about twice the size of the trophy room with shinier objects. All that the summer field trip really served to do was make the Hogwarts trophy room seem a little more lackluster. Of course, that was something he'd be keeping to himself since he wasn't about to spend the next few hours moaning about the contempt he felt for his family, especially around Remus.

"Give us your wands." Said Filch, holding out his hands to make grabbing motions at them. "You'll be doing the polishing the muggle way, with elbow grease and discipline." The four of them reluctantly handed their wands over one by one. "Your cleaning supplies are going to be in the corners of the rooms. Four-Eyes and Lumpy will be stationed over there," he said, referring to James and Peter and pointing to the far side of the room. "Mop top and—"

"Excuse me," Interrupted Sirius, clapping Remus on the shoulder. "But he does prefer _Mr._ Mop top." He could feel Remus look at him incredulously, which Sirius wouldn't have considered his day complete without. Filch gave him a hard glare and grabbed Sirius by the scruff of his robes and shoved him to the nearer corner of the room.

"I'll let you know when the work is satisfactory, and we have all Saturday night. If you're lucky you'll have a decent job done in a few hours." Filch chided. "So you better put your backs into it, because if there's any lick of magic used, I'll add on an extra hour."

"Good thing you took our wands then." Said James, making Sirius smile. Filch's face turned red, and the hard lines showing the early signs of wrinkles were setting themselves even further as his expression clearly mirrored his contempt. It was so easy to wind up that it was hard not to.

"I better not hear _anything_ other than scrubbing from you lot." Said Filch. I'll be outside the door." With that he turned on his heel and beckoned his cat to turn along after him.

When Sirius looked beside him at Remus, it was hard for him not to be disappointed with their cleaning partner situation. In terms of muggle cleaning he knew Remus would have been the go-to since he'd practically grown up without a lick of magical knowledge, but his discontent mainly stemmed from the fact that James was Sirius best friend, and usually in partner situations, that's always how it worked out. James and Sirius, and Remus and Peter. The balance was thrown off now and it forced Sirius to realise the sticky truth that he actually didn't talk to Remus that much on their own. The most interesting thing he knew about him, he wouldn't be able to talk about, and frankly, it was a bit embarrassing since the four of them spent so much time together.

Remus handed Sirius some of the cleaning cloths and polishing solution, and the pair started off in silence as he could hear James and Peter's footsteps disappearing to the far corner of the room. Thinking of something to start off a conversation with was more difficult than he anticipated. There were plenty of things, but everything he could think of had the danger of turning awkward very quickly.

There was his muggle mother, who honestly did intrigue Sirius since James told him in confidence that she was actually quite the looker. There was his wizard father who worked at the ministry… Sirius had no idea what he did but any time he heard his parents talk about the ministry he was almost bored to tears. There was his childhood, which now that he thought about it, realised Remus probably wouldn't have a very good time talking about—

"What did you guys do to get detention with me anyway?" piped up Remus as he took a seat on the floor to begin polishing one of the silver cups.

"Oh. You know, just..." Sirius started, but he hesitated in telling Remus right away. Remus wasn't on the same wavelength sometimes when it came to Sirius and his sense of humour, so he knew he wouldn't approve. He pondered for a moment to think of a better way to tell the story that didn't involve too much incriminating detail… which as it turned out was incredibly difficult for him to do since at its very core was an incriminating story.

"There wasn't very much time from when I left to when McGonagall told me. It must have been some sort of record." Said Remus, thankfully cutting the awkward silence. "I'm curious in what on earth you could have done. Well, not you by yourself obviously, but James and Peter too." Sirius shrugged as he picked up on the largest cup in the case and began going over it with the cloth.

"Well you left, and after you slammed the door, you woke the others up right away. I told them what happened of course, so no worries. Anyway, we all were pretty concerned because… you know… it's getting pretty close to exam time and we didn't want you to suffer alone since we know the _real_ punishment for you right now is missing study time." Remus chuckled at this. "It only took us a few minutes to get dressed, but on our way down to get breakfast we tried thinking of something to do early in the morning to get us with you. Which by the way is surprisingly difficult when you're trying to match getting busted for staying up late doing… _whatever_ it was you were doing." Sirius paused looked over at Remus hoping to get a response, but he was concentrating hard on getting a particular spot off of a trophy. "Peter thought we should get caught in the restricted section of the library. I thought it was a great idea."

"So that's what it was then? You all just sat down in the restricted section until someone walked by?" Remus laughed again, clearly amused.

"That _was_ the plan… but it didn't really work out like that."

"Go on. No more interruptions, I promise." Sirius was proud and relieved to know that Remus was in better spirits now that he was talking to him, especially since now that he thought about it, it was the longest he'd ever spoken to him before. Upon further reflection, he realised it was more than he believed Remus spoke with any of them... He just hoped he could keep the momentum going.

"Good. Right, well… when we er, got to the library, we saw some others there. Students in our year, I mean…" Sirius trailed off as he began to recount the events of a week prior as if it only happened the day before…

"You're up early, boys." Said Evans, looking up from her book. She was sat in the middle. To her left was Marlene McKinnon, the other Gryffindor girl in their year, and Severus Snape, her best friend from Slytherin. "I'd ask if you were here to do something productive, but Remus isn't with you so…" Her and Marlene giggled, and Severus kept his eyes glued to his textbook, seemingly ignoring all of them. "Where is he anyway?"

"Excuse me, but we are perfectly capable of doing productive things without Remus." Said James, defensively, quickly followed by Peter nodding his head and agreeing with him.

"We don't have to explain ourselves to the likes of you, Evans." Said Sirius as he stretched his arms over his head, eyes scanning around the many shelves of the Library for their destination. "Could any of you be useful and point us to the direction of the restricted section?"

"Pardon?" Asked Severus, looking up now from his textbook. His greasy black hair framed his face and made Sirius' skin crawl.

"Oh right, sorry. Could any of you be useful and point us to the direction of the restricted section, _please?"_ James and Peter laughed, but the other three sitting across from them didn't seem to find Sirius as amusing as they did.

"It's over—"

"Don't, Marlene." Snape interrupted. "Who would give _you_ a pass?" he asked. "You're not supposed to be in that section without written consent from a teacher, and I don't think any of them would be dumb enough to give it to you." Now he was trying Sirius' patience.

"Professor Mind-Your-Business, _Snivellus_. Now, I asked nicely, so if you're going to be stingy, we'll just be on—"

"Don't call me that." His teeth were bared, and Sirius knew it would be too easy getting under his skin.

"Call you what? _Snivellus?_ " A wicked smile started across James' lips as he spoke, and Sirius and Peter snickered behind him.

"Just let them find it on their own, Sev." Said Lily. "Wait, Severus. No" but she was too late to stop him since Snape was already on his feet; his skin tinged a light shade of pink to its usual pallor. Snape drew his wand and there was a collective 'ohhh' from the boys.

"Don't be an idiot, you're going to get into trouble." Said Marlene, who sounded more annoyed than scared.

"Listen to the body guards, Sniv—" Sirius started, but this had evidently been the last straw, as before he could finish his sentence, Snape winding up his wand arm for a hex.

" _Locomotor Mortis!"_ Shouted James before Snape could cast his spell. Snape's legs immediately snapped together, throwing him completely off balance, causing him to fall backwards into his chair which rolled onto the floor, making him kick all of his books into the air and off of his table. The display had been so hilarious, That Sirius burst into laughter immediately.

"Nice one, James!" He cried. Lily Evans turned such a bright and angry shade of red, that it almost rivaled her hair, and Marlene was sat with her hands over her mouth still in shock.

"What the devil is going on over here?" Asked the sharp and curt voice of the lbrarian Madam Pince, making James, Sirius, and Peter turn around on the spot. It looked very incriminating. James' wand was still in his hand, and there was a mess of books and parchment behind them along with Snape's grunting noises to get him back into his own seat. The idea occurred to Sirius, and in a wild moment, spoke up.

"James hexed Severus and we helped." He said, pointing behind him at Snape and then to the three of them. The other two looked at him incredulously as if so hurt that he would rat them out so easily, but then his plan made sense and they snapped their attention forward. They nodded in agreement to confirm for her as she shot them all an angry and disappointed look.

"Cheeky boys. You will help Mr. Snape with the mess you've caused…" Sirius nodded and waited for the rest. "There will be twenty points taken from Gryffindor house for your belligerence, noise-making, and for hexing another student with…" She looked over their shoulders to see Snape still struggling on the floor amidst Lily and Marlene's groans from points being taken.

"It's a jelly-legs jinx." Said Peter.

"No no, it's a leg locker curse—" Replied James before being cut off by Madam Pince's high and shrill voice.

"I don't care what it is!" They all jumped, but Sirius was so anxious with anticipation that he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I will be reporting to Professor McGonagall straightaway. I leave her to deal with you."

Remus sat in silence polishing as he listened to Sirius tell the story about how they all managed to get themselves into polishing trophies with him. He didn't want to voice his disapproval just yet, so he did his best to keep his eyes focused on his task at hand since he didn't want Sirius knowing right away that he didn't find the tale as amusing as he was sure the others did.

"That's when we went and found McGonagall. You must have still been at your super secret meeting or whatever."

"Yeah, probably."

"It was pretty bad. 'I cannot believe that students in my own house would act so disgracefully.'" His impression of her was actually very good, which Remus couldn't help smiling at. "At first I thought she was going to make us do something a little more dreadful, but after a nice long lecture from her, here we are."

"Here we are." Remus agreed. He wanted to add more, to say how he the others really shouldn't have been so cruel to Severus… especially in front of Lily. The selfish part of him now understood and was annoyed since this would have been the reason Lily kept herself distant from them for the passed week. He didn't exactly separate himself from the others, so she probably thought he was in on it even though he wasn't there. He made it a point to himself to remember to apologise on their behalf later since he was fairly sure none of them had yet.

"Oh come on, don't make that face. Snivellus was… I mean I'm sure he was _okay._ "

"He's got a proper name. And I'm not making any face." Remus said as he messed the front of his hair over his face. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him, and then proceeded to mirror Remus expression that was surprisingly accurate to how he was feeling. When Remus didn't respond, Sirius laughed. "How'd you even know we'd even be in detention together?" asked Remus in an attempt to change the subject. "McGonagall almost had me on another night if not for…" He trailed off.

"Oh, we didn't. Of course, that didn't occur to us until after she told us we'd be cleaning to trophy room, so when you came and told us we'd all be together, it was a relief since it all seemed to just work out" Sirius shrugged. "It'd have been worth it anyway. Just so long as we didn't have to do lines _._ " He shuddered.

"You'd prefer _this_ over lines?" Remus relied, holding up his smudged cloth.

"I'd just about do anything over lines."

"Why's that?" A moment of silence hung between them after he asked.

"It's… I don't really like to talk about it." Sirius kept his eyes fixed on another trophy he was shining, and Remus felt guilty, like he may have overstepped some sort of boundary.

"I didn't mean to pry—" Sirius waved him off.

"No it's fine. It's just… harder for me." He took a finger and drew little symbols in the air. "The letters, you know. I don't see them as quickly as you do."

"Oh…"

"Mum makes me do them a lot before school started and made me do them over the summer. Reckons it's not something that can't be fixed without… _rigorous_ repetition." He scoffed.

"I didn't know." It made more sense now, the reason that Sirius seemed to fall behind the others in terms of schoolwork or why he was so reluctant to sit with them to do any homework. His pace was slower and he didn't want them having to lug behind. He wondered if that's why he woke up early every morning, to do everything at his own rate. Remus wondered how many times he got frustrated with Sirius for wanting to copy his work when it probably made things easier for him to know that he wasn't misspelling things. Another wave of guilt crashed into him.

"Yeah, well. Don't go feeling sorry for me. I manage."

"I know, it's just… I know what it's like having something you can't help feel like it's holding you back." There was silence between them as they both became very fixed on their task at hand.

"Do you?" Sirius finally asked, tilting his head at him. Remus nodded, feeling the anticipation building up inside of him. He could tell Sirius, couldn't he? Sirius, who just shared something probably very private so fearlessly. Remus wondered if he could even get the words out. It would have been easy just to say it… but he couldn't. Every time he opened his mouth to try, he looked more like a fish out of water gasping for breath. "It's okay," Sirius stopped him. "You don't have to talk about it right now if you don't want to."

"…Sorry." They'd been the only words Remus managed to squeeze out, and he never felt more like a coward. Sirius laughed at him.

"Don't be sorry. We're friends, Remus. I'm not in any hurry to figure out your deep dark secrets."

The conversation had lightened up considerably after that since neither of them dared bringing up their conversation again. The four of them had been moving through the room so quickly in the next few hours making the most of a boring activity. They'd tap on the glass, hit certain cups and trophies to see what kind of noise they'd make, or see which one of them could say a rude word the loudest before Filch yelled at them. Remus never thought it'd be possible to have that much fun being in trouble. Of course, he would never make a habit out of it. It was afternoon by the time they were finished, and after grabbing their wands from Filch, they all decided to spend the rest of a lazy spring Saturday out by their spot on the coast of the Black Lake beneath a shady tree, staying out of as much trouble as possible.


	16. Lohrlock

**Chapter Sixteen**

 **Lohrlock**

It was strange not having professor Folly around to teach classes for the last leg of the term. No other teachers took the liberty of commandeering the open post since they were all too busy focused on their own assignments and exams, so the Defense Against the Dark Arts period was one spent in the library as a free study period instead of the classroom. Remus was particularly pleased with this since it was like having free catch up time in any work he'd missed after the next full moon had passed. Even though the Slytherins and Gryffindors mainly kept to themselves during their time in the library, Remus couldn't help but notice that every time he looked up to take a break from his books, he would catch the eyes of Blake Sparrow quickly looking away from him. Remus wondered if Thalia told him what happened with the Hollow, he would get sick from remembering what they saw and take his mind off of it with the reading, then the cycle would repeat itself over again until the period was over.

"How are we supposed to pass this exams if she's not here to teach us?" James complained, turning Remus' attention back to their table.

"For the hundredth time, McGonagall said—" Remus started before James waved him off.

"I know, I know. The exams are only going to cover up to what we learned with her. It was a rhetorical question." Remus shrugged and looked back down to his book.

"Don't ask stupid rhetorical questions if you don't want a stupid rhetorical answer,."

" _Arse_." He said under his breath, and Remus smiled, getting the sneaking suspicion that if he were to look up again he'd know who he'd be meeting eyes with. "I think I may know this entire book by heart now."

"Must be nice." Said Peter in the middle of a yawn with his head still buried into his arms. He'd taken advantage of their study period as one to catch up on sleep rather than work, and Sirius took advantage of this by seeing how my crumples of paper he could stack on top of him without him noticing. The pile was getting impressive. Even amidst the stacking, it was clear that Sirius was thankful for the extra time in preparing for the exams as well, but Remus now understood that he was probably one in a handful of people who would ever understand why.

.

As quickly as the exams seem to arrive, they passed. The extra period used for study block seemed to give everyone the boost they needed to feel confident enough in their results all around the school. Even Lily who'd been avoiding the boys since the incident at the library seemed to be warming up around them more now that the stress was gone... Or at least around Remus since she seemed to catch his eyes more in the common room before bed and wave him goodbye before walking upstairs to her dormitory. He would always wave back.

"What're you looking at?" Asked James, and Remus quickly moved his hand to his head where he pretended to be ruffling his hair.

"Nothing, I was just… nothing."

"Have you decided what electives you're taking yet?" Remus shook his head. He'd been meaning to get on top of picking the extra classes for next term at school, but whenever he tried he found himself falling asleep in the armchair of the common room. The choices all seemed interesting, but there was no way he'd be able to take them all at once despite him wanting to broaden his magical knowledge as much as possible. When he looked back forward, there was a sheet of parchment with a list of the elective classes, some were circled, and others crossed out. Remus could tell by this that it had obviously been Peter's copy.

The top two classes on the list, Alchemy and Apparition were unavailable to first years, and had the thickest and boldest slashes of ink through them. Peter must have not wanted to pick them by mistake.

"We're all going to do the same thing aren't we?" asked Peter hopefully.

"I don't see why we wouldn't." Remus shrugged. "I _really_ want to take this one." There was only one he'd been particularly looking forward to taking, and that was Care of Magical Creatures. His father worked for the department in the ministry of magic specifically dealing with them, so naturally he wanted to follow in his footsteps… all things considered. James and Sirius shared a look with each other as if to consider this request, then smiled.

"Care of Magical Creatures sounds like a winner to me too." Said Sirius. "I heard that the Professor Kettleburn is a lot of fun too, so it should be an easy mark."

"I heard he's missing a hand." Said peter excitedly.

"I heard he's missing more than that." Sirius replied.

"Anyway, check." Said James, marking the parchment. Remus was elated. "What about Arith…mancy. Arithmancy?"

"The study of numbers and their magical properties, and how to use them and apply their meanings in everyday wizarding life."

"How d'ya know that?" Asked Peter, resulting in Remus pointing right next to the word on the piece of parchment that had the description verbatim. "Ah, I see. Well… sounds boring. Next?" Remus leaned forward to get a better look at the class descriptions, and read the next selection aloud.

"Divination. Tap into your inner eye and learn an art of magic that will propel you into the beyond and gaze into the future through practice of rituals and using tools from tea leaves to crystal balls. Take four courses to reach the N.E.W.T Level… N.E.W.T.?" Remus looked up at the others.

"It's like… a super advanced grade or something." Shrugged James.

"I think I fell asleep _listening_ to that." Said Sirius with his chin in his hand. They all sniggered, mainly in quiet relief for Remus. It'd been a little more than a month when he saw the future for all that it was, and he didn't have any desire to look again. "Next."

"Next is… Muggle Studies." Remus continued. "Discover the way of muggle life and practices by immersing yourself in their world. You will learn the importance of dress, mannerisms, logic, and even experiment with electricity. Take four courses to reach the N.E.W.T level, and be able to blend seamlessly into muggle life. There's a note here that says it's mandatory by the seventh year, but you can test out."

"Last is… Study of Ancient Runes." Said James, who was now reading along with Remus. "Learn to decipher symbols and scriptures of historic wizarding text, and its application in modern wizarding life including spell-making and curse-breaking. Take four courses to reach the N.E.W.T. level." Remus tilted his head, completely intrigued.

"I think we should take Muggle Studies." Said James. "Remus practically grew up a muggle."

"Which is exactly why I _don't_ want to take it." Remus replied. "You guys can if you want to, but I think I'll just test out of it."

"I think it'll be a good time." Said Sirius, catching them all by surprise. "My parents would have a fit once they find out I'm taking Muggle Studies because I actually _want_ to."

"Ah yes, anything to wind up dear ol' mum and dad?" James giggled.

"Of course." Sirius expression changed, almost as though an idea seemed to strike him on the spot. "In fact… I think that Remus is right. He shouldn't have to take it with us." They all looked at Sirius now, Peter and James sharing the same look of confusion as Remus felt himself give. "I mean, I know we all want to be together, but I mean… It's just the electives. We have everything else, so… What's at the same time as Muggle Studies?" They all leaned forward to look at the parchment again.

"Ancient Runes." Said Remus.

"There. You should take that."

"…It does look really interesting." Remus replied honestly. After reading the description, he wanted to sign up for it almost as much as he did for Care for Magical Creatures.

"Sure it does. So that's it then. Me, James and Peter will take Muggle Studies together, and you can take Runes."

"But Muggle Studies sounds so—" Peter started but didn't get to finish his sentence. Instead there was a loud smack and he jumped, obviously being kicked by someone, most likely Sirius, underneath the table. "… _Fascinating_. I guess I'm in for that too."

"It does, doesn't it? What do you think, Potter?" Their eyes trailed to James now, who was still looking at Sirius a perplexedly. "It'll be nice to not have to worry about me cheating off of Remus on everything for it since he, you know… won't be around. Since he's taking Runes instead."

"Oh… _yeah_." James expression changed and he was now smiling too. "Take Runes, Remus. You never know, you might actually _enjoy_ the break from us." Remus smiled and shook his head at the three of them, as he found it much easier to simply go along with whatever they were playing at for his own sanity's sake. Besides, he couldn't see a scenario where this wouldn't be to his benefit, so he wasn't about to question it now. He reached into his own bag to pull out his own schedule list for next year, and made his selections to turn into professor McGonagall along with the others when they got the chance.

.

Exam results came back on the last day of term, and Remus was pleased to see he finished with high praise in most of his subjects. He finished with full marks in Charms, his best class, which vastly overshadowed his average Potions grade. He was behind James in Transfiguration, who apparently finished with top marks in the subject as well, but that didn't matter to him since he beat him in just about everything else. He was so excited and proud of himself that in the same morning during their last breakfast down in the Great Hall, Remus sent Ezra home to his parents with a copy of his results since waiting that evening to see them would have been far too long. The relieved and excited feeling of going home again for the summer, on top of having all of his classes in order and exam results in all swelled up inside him was growing like an inflating balloon. _Another year passed._ He thought. _Another year closer to the finish line—._

"I can't believe you got me by a few points in Charms." Said Lily, who plopped herself next to him at the Great Hall table just as he took a large bite out of a piece of toast just as his owl had fluttered away. "I think it was my disarming charm that did me in. Had to do it twice for it to work properly." Seeing her was the last thing he expected, especially since the others were in the middle of a game of who could eat the most loaded sandwich, with Peter in a devastating lead. He already accepted the fact that she included him in her shunning, and even the others were shocked that she actually took the time to sit down with them. They all had puffed up cheeks, so were certainly in no position to speak. She looked at them warily, and then turned her attention back to Remus. "Well, congratulations. I'll make sure to top you next year, so watch out."

"Dream on. Charms is my best subject." He replied, giving her a small smile. She gave him a pretty smile in return and tucked her hair behind her ear as she turned her attention to James.

"I definitely didn't expect _you_ to have such high marks either, let alone in Transfiguration. That's about the most difficult class I think." Remus' smile faded. James, still full mouthed, pointed to himself as if to ask why she seemed so surprised. "I guess the lot of you are better at some things other than bullying." James expression softened as much as it could with puffed up cheeks.

"Why limit ourselves, eh Evans?" Sirius asked after swallowing hard, and patting his chest, as he seemed to have almost choked. He was all right after Peter smacked him in the back a few times. Remus instinctually brought his hand to his forehead in embarrassment, and to stifle a giggle.

"…Right." She turned to look at Remus, almost as to give him a look that asked him the same question of keeping the company of his friends. He chose to ignore this hunch and take a sip of his orange juice instead. "I just wanted to drop by and say hey. I haven't in a while, so."

"Oh! Well hey." Said Peter, mouth so full that crumbs were spilling out. He wiggled his fingers at her, and she rolled her eyes them. At least it was enough to make her laugh on her way back to sit with Marlene. Remus didn't realise he watched her walk all the way back until he stared forward again to see the boys all giving him knowing looks.

"…What" Remus asked, taking another bite of his sandwich. "We're friends."

"No Remus, _we're_ friends." Sirius gestured to the four of them. Remus could feel his ears turn pink. "I know what that is." Remus looked up at him now, and Sirius with a smug smile leaned in. "She's obviously got a crush on you." His heart stopped.

"Does not." He said reflexively, only he wasn't the only one speaking. James seemed to react just as quickly and instinctively as Remus did. They both looked at each other, and then quickly back down to their respective plates. Remus knew his more than friendship feelings for Lily, but he never dreamed of ever pursuing it. Anything that would come of it could only ever leave to trouble and more lies. He didn't want to ask Lily to be his girlfriend if he couldn't be honest with her about it.

"Didn't think you would care enough to weigh in, Potter." Said Sirius as he leaned back into the bench and gulped down juice. "Thought you hated her guts."

"I do. I mean… hate is a strong word. She's just…" He struggled to find words and resigned himself to staring back at his plate.

"Oh… Oh, say it isn't so…" A wicked smile was creeping along Sirius' face.

"Shut up."

"This is too good."

"I said, _shut up_." He elbowed Sirius, who nearly fell over. By that point, Remus wasn't sure if it was due to loss of balance or from laughter. James face was pink. Remus never realised it before, but clearly he wasn't the only one in their group of friends with a thing for Lily. He lost his appetite for his breakfast soon after that.

Time was closing in on the students to get ready to leave the grounds. The majority of the Great Hall began to file out into their respective common rooms to do so. Remus looked up after slinging his bag over his shoulder as he was getting ready to join the rest, when he met eyes with who was trying to get his attention.

"You know classes are over. You don't need to carry that thing around." Said Blake Sparrow, in his usual aloof tones. It always took Remus a moment to adjust to seeing people without their usual school uniforms on, and seeing Blake in slacks and a button up caught him by surprise. Remus clung to his bag.

"Force of habit." Remus clung to his bag that now carried a few half-empty potions bottles that Madam Pomfrey let him keep from his last transformation… and by keep it meant he hadn't returned them yet. Blake simply nodded at this anyway and started to lightly bounce on his feet. He clearly wanted a word, and judging by the feeling of being under his suspicion since he and Thalia returned from the Hollow, he judged it had something to do with that. "I'll catch up, guys." Remus called over his shoulder, and Blake waited until the others were out of earshot to start talking again.

"You look well." He said, keeping his voice strangely low, and making Remus uncomfortable.

"Yeah, yeah… I was happy with my exams results, so…" He replied awkwardly. His mind kept trailing back to the last conversation he had with Blake, where he threatened Remus simply for not talking to Thalia. Of course now the two shared something in common he doubted her and Blake did, but he felt that it wouldn't have been an appropriate time to bring that up. "Sorry, did you need me for something?"

"Yes." Blake said gently. "I wanted to say thanks." There was another small uncomfortable silence, and Blake cleared his throat. "I know it's not… things aren't particularly easy for you. I knew that and still asked you to go out of your way to help Thalia." Remus froze. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but if he didn't know any better he would have assumed that Blake knew about his affliction too. Then again, how could he? Thalia promised she wouldn't tell… but they'd certainly known and trusted each other longer than she and Remus did. He suddenly felt off balance, but fixed all of his concentration on trying not to show it.

"Oh." He managed in a small voice. "Sure. I mean, of course… she's my friend too, I think I said." Blake tilted his head at him at first, making Remus feel like he was scanning him.

"Right. Listen…" He put his hand on Remus' shoulder to bring him in a bit closer. To anyone else it may have looked strangely affectionate for a Slytherin, but that was small on the list of concerns in Remus' mind at the present moment. "Since there's no problem anymore… I— Don't… Well, just promise me you won't drag her into anything." He gave Remus a once over. "She's got a lot on her plate as it is, and—"

"Hang on," Remus interrupted. "First you're telling me to not ignore her, now you're telling me to stay away from her?"

"I didn't say that."

"But that's what you mean." Remus felt his temperature rising, and suddenly the whispers and snickers from Sterling Avery and his small pod of friends on the far side of the Great Hall became louder in his ears, only serving to annoy him more. "Why does it matter to you anyway? It's not like I'm seeing her hanging around you right now, anyway." Blake gave Remus a forced smile, and even though it was only for a moment, Remus felt Blake tighten his grip slightly on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not the bad guy, here."

"Neither am I." There was a tense silence, and then Blake removed his hand from Remus' shoulder and smiled as if his expression were going to be followed by a sort of dry laugh.

"No. Of course _you_ aren't." Remus' eyes trailed over Blake's shoulder to the Slytherin table, where a small pod of them were looking at their conversation. "If I can't convince you not to get tangled up then, just know that you'll need to watch yourself from now on."

"…Are you threatening me?"

"It's not a threat. It's a warning—" There was a call from the table now, clearly beckoning for Blake to come back to join them. "One that I hope you take seriously."

On that last note, Blake turned on his heel and headed back to the table with the other Slytherins, leaving Remus stood in the same spot feeling slightly stunned. He was starting to feel like an idiot with how cryptic everyone around him seemed to be, especially when he didn't quite understand what was going on. Of course when he arrived upstairs to meet back with the others in the dormitory packing up the last of their things. He decided not to share the truth, but rather Blake asking for help on his Charms homework over the summer. Anything else would have been far too much to explain, and he wasn't about to let that altercation rain on his up mood he was having that day.

.

The trip back home seemed to be much shorter than the train arriving. Hours flew like minutes as Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James all laughed and joked to pass the time, as well as cracked into sweet they'd either been stockpiling from the last leg of the term, or had just acquired from the trolley witch strolling through the corridors. Only in passing of the other cabins did Remus ever hear about the Hollow's tale again, but it seemed now to be more of a joke rather than the legend people revered it to be only a few short weeks ago. By that time, people were far too busy buzzing still about Professor Folly's departure, which seemed to be much more interesting since it wasn't based on a fairy tale. The only people who knew otherwise were on the train riding in separate cabins on their way away from all of that.

Stepping onto that platform was chaotic as ever. Inbetween the noises of people chattering and greeting their students, the animals were rattling restlessly in their cage, obviously as anxious to make it home as they were. Sirius stepped off of the train first to grab his trunk in their group, follow by James, then Remus, and Peter last. All of them stood in a line at the edge looking for their respective families. Remus could see Mr. and Mrs. Potter first as the couple waved their hand at the group of boys. Of course, even though it was James' family, they all walked over to say hello since they neglected to the last year. Remus has already met Mr. and Mrs. Potter at the beginning of the year before term started in Diagon Alley, and they looked exactly as he remembered them, only their deep smile lines in their faces were much more prominent. And like that, the Potters were gone first.

"Don't forget to write this summer!" James called out as he walked away through the barrier into the muggle world.

Mrs. Pettigrew came into sight next from where the remaining three of them stood. She was as dumpy as Remus remembered, her exact same shade of mousy hair as his was tied was feathered out beneath a dark green hat to match her robes. She reminded Remus a lot of a lighter, squashed version of Professor McGonagall, of course he wasn't about to say so in a hurry to Peter before he walked off to leave with her, smile widely and waving and Sirius and Remus as the two stood to wait for their own families.

"Last ones waiting again." Said Sirius. "If I'm lucky they'll have picked up Regulus and forgotten about me. I could stay back with the trolley witch this summer and live off the sweets."

"In a perfect world, eh?" Replied Remus, making the both of them giggle. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of swishing blonde hair and could hear fast pacing footsteps breaking into a run.

"You came!" Said Thalia, a little ways away, but loud enough for Remus to hear her.

"Of course I did." Replied a deep man's voice to her, making Remus freeze where he stood. He jerked his head up to follow which direction it was coming from, but even in the thinning crowd of students and parents it was hard to find out who it was talking to her.

"You all right, mate?" Asked Sirius. "A bug fly in your ear or something?"

"What? Oh, no. I just thought…" He finally turned to look at Sirius, who 3was giving him a slightly concerned look. Perhaps Remus reacted much more dramatically than he intended, especially if it was enough for Sirius to notice. He could feel himself start to panic a little his heart rate pick up. It was like someone had turned the volume up a notch where they stood… or perhaps it was down, it was hard to make sense of it when that voice that sounded so familiar was occupying the forefront of his mind. "Your parents." Said Remus, being thankful for the distraction. He point to their right, the opposite direction of where he saw Thalia run off to, and sure enough, the aristocratic Black family all stood waiting impatiently, though weren't making much of an effort to look around for Sirius, except for Regulus, who was casually looking around the platform as though trying not to make it seem like he cared where his older brother had run off too this time. When Sirius started pushing his trolley, Remus instinctively followed until Sirius put a hand out to hold him still.

"Probably not the best idea, Lupin." Said Sirius, sounding a little embarrassed.

"Oh… yeah, of course." Remus pulled his trunk back. "I'll just er… write to you through James again." Sirius smiled.

"Make sure you do. I'll need something to look forward to this summer." And like that he was off, only when he met up with his family, they only seemed to notice in a way that would be similar to someone being mildly aware that they had a semi-urgent appointment to make. He was soon distracted by the man's voice again cutting through the noise of the platform.

Remus leaned forward to rest on his trunk and stood waiting as the crowd became thinner. He saw Alice and Frank exchange slips of parchment and a hug before heading in opposite directions, watched as some of the older students and quidditch team members toss their brooms over their shoulders and discusses tactics for next year, could hear the students coming back and telling their families excitedly about their time at the school. Even Lily flashed him another pretty smile and a wave as he caught a final glimpse of her disappearing behind the barrier, mouthing for him to write as she passed through the stone, making sure the last thing she saw was him giving her a thumbs up.

"We always seem to find you after the party's all gone." Said the familiar voice of his father, making Remus beam at him as he sidled up. "Not embarrassed of me, are you?"

"Completely." Remus replied, and his father messed his hair.

"Heavens dear, if you keep getting any taller, we'll need to get you a new wardrobe." Said his mother the other side of him, gesturing to his exposed ankles. He hardly noticed that he didn't need to crane his neck up as much to look at his father, and how he and his mother were eye level now. He shrugged, and they both giggled, followed by a kiss on the cheek from her. "Ready to go then? I have dinner waiting at home." Remus had been ignoring the rumbling in his stomach that sweets couldn't fill for so long, that the mention of a cooked meal waiting for him was enough to make him salivate. That was when the voice cut through the crowd again.

"I'll get your trunk for you, sweetheart." he said. Remus turned his head so fast that he was sure he gave himself whiplash.

He saw the long blonde hair first, but it wasn't Thalia's. They belonged to a witch wearing wine red clothes to match her lips. She was taller and older than Thalia, but had a similar face... similar, but not quite the same. Where Thalia had roundness, this woman was defined, as if she were ready to spring at a moments notices should the need arise. Otherwise, they favoured each other very much. He defaulted again into thinking this would be Thalia's mother, but remembered her as the aunt that he saw on the exact same spot on the platform exactly a year ago when she gladly took accepted the embrace Thalia gave her. Watching the private moment again from afar made Remus feel a little awkward, until Thalia spotted him and waved to him from afar. The woman looked over her shoulder at him, and Remus could feel his face get hot as she raised her eyebrows to him as if to consider him when Thalia mouthed his name to her, undoubtedly telling who he was.

There were two figures bent down by two trolleys, The first one stood that Remus recognised immediately as Blake Sparrow, who was smiling and talking to Thalia's aunt and to the other bent down figure, who soon after stood to his own feet and ran his fingers through his hair with his back still towards Remus. The man messed Blake's hair, causing him to roll his eyes. He turned around to face Remus direction after that, the signs of laughter still along his face.

It was hard to recognise him at first in normal light and smiling, but there was no mistake. He wore the same brown leather robes and had the same combed back hair that Remus remembered. The man who'd broken into Hogwarts looking for the Book of Beast last year, and who undoubtedly done the same thing only a few months ago to search the Hollow… the Hollow that Remus was now blisteringly aware that only he and Thalia found. Still, she rushed in to hug him when he was back on his feet again, making him laugh and smile again as the two seemed incredibly happy to see each other.

The werewolf that Thalia told him she was close to was _him._ It all happened so fast that Remus didn't realise he was still waving when he and the man met eyes while the latter was still smiling and touching one of Thalia's pig-tails. It turned into something a little darker after that, more like a grin, but one that had the telling signs of knowing a secret that no one else did.

Slowly, but without hesitation, the man fluttered his fingers to wave back at Remus, and the light feeling he'd spent all day riding on, popped helplessly away.

"Spotted someone?" Asked Lyall, obviously referring to Thalia as he waved to her. "That's the Winsor girl, isn't it?"

"Who is that man with her?" Remus asked, not even bothering to answer his question.

"He works at the ministry under her father, I believe. Lohrlock is his name." He replied almost casually.

"Lohrlock…" he repeated in a softer tone. Of course he wouldn't know about Lohrlock breaking into the school or putting student's lives in danger in doing so. Working under Thalia's father too meant that he couldn't have been anything less than bad news. Lohrlock nodded his head to their group to lead them away. First the older of the two, followed by Thalia who was practically bouncing in her steps, and Blake, who looked over his shoulder at Remus and nodded his head before going out of sight amidst the still dwindling crowd of people.

"Friends of yours?" asked his mother. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words went dry in his mouth. How was he to answer a question he didn't know the answer to? He hoped the pit he felt in his stomach was something he could also wash away with the cooked meal waiting for him at home. At least he'd have the rest of the summer to ignore it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hey all! thanks so much for sticking around with me for now... _two_ installments. It's kind of surreal. I hope I didn't leave this on too much of a cliffhanger since I mean it this time when I say it may be a little while before posting the third. I want to make sure I'm preparing much better next time around so I don't disappear for six months at a time again. I've considered maybe doing the thing where I write it all at once and post it that way, but I'm still pretty undecided on that, so we'll definitely have to see!

Please let me know what you think! I love hearing interpretations or predictions in reviews, as well as if there's anything you particularly like or dislike about the writing or the story. I am trying to get better as I go along so anything helpful you can shoot my way is appreciated!

Thanks again so much for reading and getting this far with me. I can't tell you how much it means to me that people are interested and actually enjoy this story. If you still want more, shoot me a follow and you'll be the first to know when the first chapter of book three comes out. ;)

\- Ash


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